In its final nonconference game of the regular season, the NC State men’s basketball team took care of business in a 99-71 win against the Rider Broncs.
The Pack (11-2) showed off an incredibly balanced offensive attack tonight, as six players hit double figures against the Broncs (8-5). Freshman point guard Dennis Smith Jr. had an outstanding game, finishing with 19 points, 16 assists and one SportsCenter Top 10-caliber dunk. He was joined in double figures by freshman center Omer Yurtseven, who had 16 points, junior forward Abdul-Malik Abu, who had 12 and sophomore forward Maverick Rowan, who had 12.
“[It was] a good team win,” head coach Mark Gottfried said. “Six guys in double figures is impressive. I like that about our team, so hopefully we can just keep getting better.”
Both teams struggled on offense early, as the Pack led 19-12 midway through the first half. Poor shot selection and just plain bad luck seemed to be the Pack’s issue at the offensive hoop, as the team had several shots hit the rim and roll out. Defensively, the Pack was very strong, coming back to force several turnovers, block shots and grab defensive rebounds.
A nice steal and dunk from Smith around the 11-minute mark seemed to wake up the Pack, however, sparking an 11-3 run over the next minute and change, including two thunderous dunks from Abu, who grabbed 12 boards in addition to his strong night offensively.
“Offensively, I feel like this is one of the better teams I’ve played on in my whole basketball career,” Abu said. “We don’t have to go out there and hug shots; I think we had 25 or 26 assists on 40 baskets. If we’re moving the ball like that, the sky’s the limit.”
Following Abu’s second dunk, the Pack carried a 14-12 edge the rest of the half for a 40-25 halftime lead. This was a half for big dunks, as senior forward Beejay Anya had one at the 1:33 mark that ignited the crowd.
The dunks continued into the second half, as Smith showed off his skill by carving through the Broncs’ defense to the basket and slamming down a one-handed tomahawk dunk that had both the crowd and Wolfpack bench looking on in awe.
“I heard [the Rider defender] asking the ref, ‘where did I foul him?’” Smith said. “[He acted like] he blocked it or something. So I said, ‘next one, I’m going to put it on his head.’ Then the next play down, I put it on his head.”
The Pack outscored Rider 34-22 through the first eight minutes or so of the second half for a 74-47 lead at the 7:52 mark. The team’s offense played much better in the second half, using its speed in transition and ability to drive to the inside to overpower the Broncs.
The Wolfpack cruised the rest of the way to the blowout victory. Late in the game, the walk-on trio of Chris Brickhouse, Tucker Thompson and Chris Corchiani Jr. entered the game, delighting the crowd and bench.
Now that the Wolfpack has finally been able to play a few games with a full lineup to close out conference play, and the team appears to be ready for ACC basketball.
“We’re playing as a team and we’ve got all of our pieces back,” Smith said. “We’re going into conference play rolling right now; we’re beating teams how we’re supposed to beat them lately. That’s a good sign.”
NC State begins ACC play on New Year’s Eve Saturday as it heads to Florida to take on the Miami Hurricanes.
