The NC State men’s basketball defense pressured Furman into 20 turnovers Tuesday night, many of which led to easy points. This combined with good looks from 3-point range equated to 92 total points to the Paladins’ 73.
Coming off another conference loss at Miami, the Wolfpack (9-3) was hungry for a win against the Paladins (7-4). This was evident on the defensive end, with head coach Kevin Keatts often running a full-court press. The press defense was largely responsible for the large number of turnovers.
“[We had to] be aggressive on defense and push them higher out [so] they can’t just walk into their offense,” said sophomore guard Terquavion Smith.
Smith came away with three steals and a block to lead the Pack defense, and he also paced the offense with 24 points. He is the most confident and efficient player on the floor and is essential to the team’s identity.
In addition to the brilliance of Smith, senior guard Casey Morsell hit a barrage of 3-pointers. He hit four 3s in total to tally 17 points, second to only Smith. Morsell has been a consistent source of scoring in the Wolfpack backcourt this season, averaging 12.9 points per game.
The Wolfpack struggled to pull down rebounds in this one, failing to box out the Paladins, who grabbed 12 offensive boards. The injury to graduate forward Dusan Mahorcic looks like it will have a lasting impact until one of the other big men on the roster can step up when graduate forward DJ Burns isn’t on the floor.
NC State led 48-29 going into the halftime break, a lead that carried over into the second period up until the final buzzer. The Paladins defense failed to close out on 3-point shots, allowing NC State to pile onto its lead.
It has become obvious that winning starts on the defensive end for NC State. When the Pack gets stops early and often, it translates to points on the offensive end, and a lack of stops are a major reason why NC State has failed to win in-conference games this season.
With eight minutes to play in the game, Furman chipped away at the score with an 11-2 run but never broke the double-digit deficit. The Wolfpack has a habit, along with many other teams, of taking its foot off the gas with a big lead. Keatts emphasized mentality being a large focus for the team down the stretch.
“What I was bothered by at the Miami game was a lack of toughness both physically and mentally,” Keatts said. “Guys were locked in [tonight].”
Furman has seen its share of success this season. With a lot of size to their lineup, the Paladins have managed to win a considerable amount of games. Keatts and his staff made sure the players were aware of the legitimacy of the Furman team.
“It’s a really good win,” Keatts said. “[Furman] is a team that on any given night can beat any team in the country.”
Despite struggling against conference rivals, the Wolfpack has won games that it is favored in. As the season progresses, there will be more opportunities to play ACC opponents with the next conference game coming against Louisville on Dec. 22 at PNC Arena.
Before then, NC State will head to Chicago to face Vanderbilt on Dec. 17 with a 10:30 p.m. tipoff for its next game before returning home.
