It’s not how you start; it’s how you finish. That was certainly the case for the NC State men’s basketball team Tuesday night, which played poorly for 30 minutes but finished on a 24-12 run for a 81-69 win over Robert Morris at PNC Arena.
The Pack’s (9-3) defense rebounded well from a sloppy loss to UNC-Greensboro Saturday, holding the Colonials (6-6) to percent from the field and forcing 13 turnovers.
“We made some adjustments [at halftime],” head coach Kevin Keatts said. “When you look at the last eight minutes of the second half, we really sat down and defended.”
Redshirt junior guard Torin Dorn led the Pack with 17 points and added 10 rebounds after a quiet game against the Spartans; he was one of three players in the game to hit a double-double for NC State.
“We have tremendous ability on our team,” Dorn said. “We have guys that are guys that are capable of getting double doubles. We have great bigs, some of the best bigs in the country. Everyone on our team is capable of stepping up and playing to the best of their ability.”
It was a productive night for the Wolfpack’s bigs as well, as sophomore center Omer Yurtseven (12 points, 10 rebounds) and senior forward Lennard Freeman (11 points, 12 rebounds) both recorded double-doubles.
The bigs benefited from the return of senior forward Abdul-Malik Abu. Abu added 15 points and seven rebounds on 54.5 percent shooting. Keatts said the performance was Abu’s best of the season, but he is still rusty after an MCL injury sidelined him for six games this year.
“You all know how high [Abu] can jump,” Yurtseven said. “He’s definitely been helping on the boards. Offensively, he’s trying to look out for me and I’m trying to look out for him—all bigs look out for each other.”
The Pack played poorly for the first half and into the second, trailing for most of it as the team struggled on offense and the Colonials rained threes.
NC State finally started to awaken midway through the final frame, and Lennard Freeman threw down a dunk to make it a one-score game and ignite the crowd. The team took a 54-52 lead with three free throws from Al Freeman with 9:19 left.
The Colonials tied the game with a 3-point play with 7:33 to go, but the Pack answered right back with an 11-1 run for a 68-58 lead with 4:24 to play.
“I went back to telling everybody that if there are defensive breakdowns, you’re going to get held accountable for them,” Keatts said. “Obviously you’re coming out of the game. Up until the last couple games, we’ve been one of the best 3-point defensive teams in the country. The last couple games we’ve given up 20 3-pointers. We’ve got to correct that. …We made some adjustments. We decided to switch a few more screens and we made it tough for them.”
The Wolfpack will wrap up its non-conference schedule against Jacksonville at PNC Arena Friday.
Redshirt junior Torin Dorn dunks the ball with 1:00 minute left in the second half against Robert Morris for a 81-65 win at PNC Arena on Tuesday, Dec. 19. Dorn recorded a double-double leading the team with 17 points while also putting up 10 boards.
