Alex Zachman
Redshirt junior Torin Dorn scans the court for an open player during the third home game of the season against Bryant. Dorn played for 27 minutes with a 79% field goal average. The Wolfpack beat Bryant 95-72 in regulation at PNC Arena on Tuesday, November 14.
Fronted by a career high 26 points from redshirt junior guard Torin Dorn, the NC State men’s basketball team rolled to a commanding 95-72 over Bryant in PNC Arena Tuesday night.
The Wolfpack (3-0) remain undefeated under new head coach Kevin Keatts with the win, thanks to the dominating performances of Dorn and redshirt senior forward Lennard Freeman, who also had a career high with 20 points. The Bulldogs (0-2) stuck with NC State in the first half, but struggled in the second half to keep pace with the Pack.
“What a good night for us because I think we learned a lot,” Keatts said. “We had some adversity early. Very positive game for us, we can take a lot from it. I’m excited about this team. I felt like we took a big step forward, especially on the defensive end.”
NC State found defensive success in this one with a full-court press, one that forced 27 Bryant turnovers compared to just seven from the Wolfpack.
“I thought our press was really good,” Keatts said. “We forced those guys, which were really four guards, into 27 turnovers. We had 14 steals ourselves.”
Along with Lennard Freeman and Dorn, who combined to go 19 of 25 from the field, sophomore guard Markell Johnson was also solid for the Pack, garnering a 10 point, 11 assist double-double. Another key performer for NC State was graduate transfer guard Allerik Freeman, who had his third-straight double-digit scoring game with 15 points.
The Pack came out of the gate slow, allowing the Bulldogs to jump out to an early 14-5 lead. However, the Pack clawed back to bring things even at 21-21 with a layup from freshman guard Braxton Beverly.
Beverly made his season debut, after being ruled eligible to play less than two hours prior to the opening tipoff. Beverly, who transferred from Ohio State at the beginning of the year, had been in a lengthy battle with the NCAA over his eligibility.
“I’m very, very excited to have Braxton Beverly,” Keatts said. “I’ve been telling [Kirk Brown] our equipment manager to bring his uniform to every game, because I’m a smart coach and I knew the NCAA would do the right thing.”
The PNC Arena crowd erupted with Beverly’s two points, his only score of the night as he finished 1 for 7 from the field.
“I didn’t believe it at first,” Beverly said. “I was very excited. The first two games here I’ve seen signs and posters, everyone yelling ‘Free Braxton.’ Finally I’m free. I’ve seen a poster that said ‘they finally let him go.’ It was a great feeling, playing for such a great fan base.”
NC State allowed Bryant to stay in the game, thanks to lights-out shooting from beyond the arc. The Bulldogs shot 5 of 11 from 3-point range in the first half, led by 18 points and four 3-pointers from guard Adam Grant, who finished the game with a team-leading 24 points.
The Wolfpack did go on a small 9-2 run in the final three minutes of the opening half to take a 50-40 lead into the break. This run was highlighted by a monstrous alley-oop slam dunk from Dorn, who caught a lob from Johnson and finished with a powerful one-handed slam.
“That’s the dunk of the year so far,” Lennard Freeman said. “Torin didn’t even know he had that in him.”
Dorn and Lennard Freeman led the way for NC State in the first half, with Dorn scoring a team-leading 15 points and Lennard Freeman adding 11 points on perfect 5-for-5 shooting.
“The way we play gets the bigs more involved,” Lennard Freeman said. “Any given night it can be anybody’s day. Today was just my day.”
Out of the break, the Pack began to solidify defensively, allowing Bryant just 8 points on 3 of 12 through the first eight minutes of the half to jump out to a 61-48 lead.
Lennard Freeman and Dorn continued to pace the Pack, as NC State began to pull away from the Bulldogs. A 9-0 NC State run, capped by another alley-oop slam from Dorn, pushed the Pack lead to 70-50 with 9:22 remaining in the game.
NC State continued to pull away down the stretch, as the final buzzer sounded with NC State on top 95-72.
Dorn finished with 26 points, tying his career-high point total, a mark set when he was at UNC-Charlotte, thanks to an efficient 11-of-14 shooting performance. He also grabbed five rebounds and turned the ball over just once.
“I was just playing hard, I didn’t realize until I sat down and they told me,” Dorn said.
The Wolfpack’s next contest will be this Thursday when it hosts Presbyterian. The Pack will look to move to 4-0 against the Blue Hose.