LIVE BLOG: NC State men's basketball hosts Presbyterian
After NC State raised two banners into the Lenovo Center rafters and cruised past USC Upstate in the season opener Monday night, the Wolfpack returned to action against Presbyterian on Friday night.
The Pack, which leaned on balanced scoring in the win over the Spartans, is looking to win its 15th home non-conference game in a row as the Blue Hose play their third game in five days.
The game will be available streaming on ACC Network Extra with ACC Champion Casey Morsell alongside Andrew Sanders on the broadcast. Refresh this page for live updates from NC State’s second game of the 2024-25 campaign. You can also join the conversation on The Wolfpacker’s game thread.
NC State cruises to its second straight win
11/08/2024 07:52:32 PMFinal. NC State 81, Presbyterian 72.
Ben Middlebrooks dazzled with 16 second-half points, while Michael O’Connell dished eight assists in the Pack’s second straight win.
Full stats:
Hi, Ben Middlebrooks
11/08/2024 07:46:22 PMMiddlebrooks was held scoreless in the first half, but the forward has 12 points on 5-for-5 shooting in the second half.
The former Clemson transfer has the Pack’s last four points, both fast-break dunks. Middlebrooks also knocked down a three-pointer earlier in the half.
NC State 73, Presbyterian 60. 2H 3:24.
Jayden Taylor continues to hit shots
11/08/2024 07:38:29 PMJayden Taylor is up to 19 points on 7-of-14 shooting. Presbyterian has been able to hang around in this one as NC State leads by 10.
NC State 67, Presbyterian 57. 2H 6:50.
Threes continue to fall for NC State
11/08/2024 07:25:53 PMBen Middlebrooks and Breon Pass each just knocked down threes to push the Wolfpack’s lead back to 11. NC State is shooting 66.7% from the floor as a team in the second half.
The triple was Middlebrooks’ second of his collegiate career.
NC State 58, Presbyterian 47. 2H 11:48.
Pack comes out firing early second half
11/08/2024 07:15:46 PMNC State came out of the halftime locker room piping hot from the field. The Pack has hit five of its first seven shots to open up an 11-point lead.
Jayden Taylor has 16 points on 6-for-11 shooting.
NC State 49, Presbyterian 38. 2H 15:38.
NC State leads at the half
11/08/2024 06:54:00 PMNC State didn’t score in the final 2:15, which allowed its lead to dwindle to just 7 points. The Pack shot 51.6% from the field as a team, but made just four of its 11 threes.
Jayden Taylor leads all scorers with 13 first-half points, while Michael O’Connell has dished five assists in the first 20 minutes.
Full stats:
Balanced scoring remains the key
11/08/2024 06:39:31 PMNC State has built a 10-point lead and it’s doing that with four players that have scored 6 or more points. Jayden Taylor leads the group with 9 points, while Michael O’Connell is just behind him with 8.
NC State 34, Presbyterian 24. 1H 3:39.
Brandon Huntley-Hatfield makes himself known
11/08/2024 06:29:40 PMForward Brandon Huntley-Hatfield is slowly starting to take this game over. He’s got 6 points on 3-for-3 shooting with three rebounds and an assist in his first nine minutes on the floor.
Dontrez Styles leads the Pack with 7 points.
NC State 27, Presbyterian 20. 1H 6:46.
This one’s getting tight
11/08/2024 06:19:42 PMAfter NC State used a 6-0 run to build a slight lead, Presbyterian matched it with one of their own.
Both teams are shooting above 50% — Blue Hose is at 58.3% and NC State is at 53.3% from the field. NC State has given up three turnovers, which has led to 4 points for Presbyterian.
NC State 19, Presbyterian 16. 1H 11:42.
NC State’s shooting goes cold
11/08/2024 06:10:34 PMNC State has gone cold from the field. The Pack hasn’t scored in the last 2:05 and is just 4-for-10 from the field as a team so far.
Michael O’Connell has accounted for half of the Wolfpack’s made field goals to this point with his pair of three-pointers.
NC State 11, Presbyterian 8. 1H 15:03.
Offensive rebounding successful early on
11/08/2024 06:06:26 PMNC State is dominating the offensive glass early with four in the first three minutes. The Pack has 5 second-chance points, including Michael O’Connell’s latest three-pointer.
O’Connell has a game-high 6 points to pace NC State.
NC State 11, Presbyterian 4. 1H 17:06.
Starting lineups
11/08/2024 05:52:55 PMNC State:
G Michael O’Connell
G Marcus Hill
G Jayden Taylor
G Dontrez Styles
F Brandon Huntley-Hatfield
Presbyterian:
G Kobe Stewart
G Kory Mincy
G Jamahri Harvey
F Jaylen Peterson
F Kaleb Scott
Tonight’s officials
11/08/2024 05:28:41 PMChuck Jones, Justin Porterfield and Anthony Eades will be in charge tonight.
Eades last worked on Wednesday night with App State hosting St. Andrews Pres. He also worked on Monday night, calling Cal against Cal State Bakersfield in Berkeley.
Availability update
11/08/2024 05:25:00 PMNC State guard Dennis Parker Jr. is not dressed for pregame warmups against Presbyterian. The Pack will also be without Mike James (knee) and Ismael Diouf (NCAA suspension ends after tonight) for the second straight game.
How to watch or listen
11/08/2024 05:15:05 PM– Tipoff: 7 p.m. ET
– TV: ACC Network Extra
– Radio broadcast with Matt Chazanow and Tony Haynes is on the Wolfpack Sports Network
