NC State men’s basketball races past Abilene Christian  

Going into NC State’s second game of the season, its opponent, Abilene Christian, had the fanfare after it beat Oklahoma State on the road earlier in the week. 

The Wildcats did it through their defense in Stillwater, Okla., but the Wolfpack were not worried about that. They were focused on going out to play their own game in a physical game, and NC State was able to assert itself on Abilene Christian. 

“Yeah,” said NC State junior guard Jayden Taylor, who noted the Wolfpack players saw the Wildcats’ win over the Cowboys, “but we’re not Oklahoma State. We’re NC State.”

NC State did what Oklahoma State could not, grab the lead from the tipoff and race past Abilene Christian afterwards. The Wolfpack won 84-64 on Friday night at PNC Arena, the red and white’s second win of the opening week of the season. 

The red and white were paced by Taylor, a Butler transfer, who scored 22 points on 5-of-12 shooting from the floor and was a perfect 9-for-9 from the free throw line. NC State also had three others in double figures: graduate guards Casey Morsell (16 points) and DJ Horne (15 points), and graduate forward DJ Burns (12 points). 

NC State’s balanced effort came through passing the ball efficiently. The Pack logged 11 assists and only recorded eight turnovers in the win. 

“We are completely taking care of the basketball, which I really, really like,” NC State coach Kevin Keatts said. “We’re growing defensively as a group, and we’re starting to trust one another. That’s one of the things that you’ve got to keep building on.”

After NC State struggled to shoot from beyond the 3-point arc in the first half against The Citadel in its season opener, the Wolfpack attacked the rim early and often against the Wildcats. 

The Pack went at or around the rim on its first five shots, which led to a quick 13 points with a few free throws mixed in. It proved to be the strategy as NC State missed its first five 3-pointers before Horne made a triple with the shot clock winding down with just over four minutes in the first half. 

Luckily for the Wolfpack, its 3-point struggles were covered up by its defense, its free throw shooting, and an 8-for-9 start inside the arc. NC State held Abilene Christian off the board for extended periods in the opening 20 minutes, including a more than four minute stretch. 

That defensive play — and a 14-of-15 start from the free throw line — allowed the Pack to open an 18-point lead by halftime. 

But in the second half, the Wolfpack’s shooting did not start off too hot. NC State was 0-for-6 from the field before Taylor hit a layup and a 3-pointer on back-to-back possessions to break the red and white’s drought from the field — which lasted almost five minutes of game time. 

That opened up a stretch that NC State made five of six field goal attempts, and ballooned its lead to 20 points midway through the second half. 

NC State’s ability to assert itself with its defensive pressure was one of the priorities it made entering the game. For most of the Wolfpack’s guards, that is what the team’s identity will blossom into . 

“I think we took a step in just being NC State,” Horne said. “There was a lot of noise coming in with how they beat Oklahoma State. I think the main thing we wanted to come into today was building our identity.”

Not only was NC State able to use its stout defensive pressure to its advantage, but it was able to play physically on the other end of the court, too. 

The Wolfpack was successful from the free throw line in the contest as it went 20-of-24 from the charity stripe. That was a vast improvement from NC State’s seven free throws against The Citadel. 

“I didn’t like on Monday that we took seven free throws, and someone came in our house and took a lot more,” Keatts said. “That was one of our concentrations to get to the paint, and get to the free throw line. I thought we did a tremendous job there.”

The Wolfpack played its entire roster, except for the two players that did not for the second straight game: Kansas transfer MJ Rice and North Carolina A&T transfer Kam Woods.

Rice is still working his way back after an extended absence from the team (personal reasons), while Woods is waiting on a two-time transfer waiver from the NCAA. Keatts said the team has not heard back from the NCAA, and he did not have a timeline on Rice’s return to the court.

It may be early in the season, but NC State’s new faces have fit in seamlessly on the court. The Pack only returned two starters, Burns and Morsell, and the rest of the supporting cast has fit in well. 

“It’s the second game of the season, so this is just the beginning, to be honest,” Taylor said. “Every day we come into practice, get to know each other more, and it’s only going to get better. This is just the intro, trust me.”

If a 20-point win is “just the intro,” then what’s next?

“I would say we’re coming,” Taylor said. “I’m not going to say too much. We’re just going to keep working, and control what we can control. Hopefully we win.”