NC State men's basketball coasts past Charleston Southern

NC State graduate forward DJ Burns had a defender on his back near the top of the key in the latter stages of the first half. He looked to pass, but nobody was there, so he did the next best thing: make a play for himself. 

Burns, the Wolfpack’s 6-foot-9, 275-pound post player, spun away from the defender and had a wide-open dunk. The Rock Hill, S.C., native turned to run down the floor after his flush, and he was a ball of energy, which was contagious within PNC Arena’s walls. 

NC State’s most energized player on the floor tacked on to what ended up to be a 19-0 Wolfpack run to give the red and white the lead it needed in the waning minutes of the first half. The Wolfpack continued to build on that cushion the rest of the way to win 87-53 on Friday night. 

“I’ve been practicing that move a lot, usually there’s a double team,” said Burns, who scored 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting. “But when I realized there wasn’t, I was like ‘It’s now or never. I got to get the first one in this jersey.’” 

Burns got his first dunk of the season, and his coach wore a grin after the game after watching his star post player make an athletic play.

“That was pretty smooth right there,” NC State coach Kevin Keatts said. “He made a great move. He’s fun to watch. He can make plays, and I thought that was a really spectacular play in the game.

That almost 20-point run was necessary for the Wolfpack in the early going as Charleston Southern hung around for most of the first half. 

The Pack was able to force turnovers — six in the first eight minutes — but it could not finish at the rim. That opened the door for the Buccaneers’ 6-0 run to pull within one, which was as close the visitors would get within the Pack the rest of the way. 

NC State’s defense was there to pick up its offense when the Wolfpack struggled to knock down shots in the early going. For Keatts, that showed growth in his team, which boasts eight new faces on the roster this season.

“I thought we played a really complete game,” Keatts said. “I thought it was that moment in the first half where things were a little close, offensively we were not clicking, and our defense inserted into the game. … But a really good team win, something we can build on.”

The difference? NC State’s ability to turn Charleston Southern’s mistakes into points. The Wolfpack finished the night with 22 forced turnovers, which resulted in 29 points. 

NC State worked on its press in the week since it had a game, and it paid off. The Wolfpack forced four 10-second violations in the Charleston Southern backcourt, and it logged 11 steals. That resulted in the fewest points the Pack has allowed to an opponent this season.

Keatts thought this defensive effort was his team’s top performance on that end of the floor through its first trio of games. 

“We really got after it,” Keatts said. “This was our best pressure that we’ve had in our short season. We mixed it up a little bit with some zone press. … It really paid off. I thought we took the rhythm away from those guys, didn’t really let them get into a flow.”

It was not just defense that propelled NC State to the win. The Pack’s offense clicked in the second half. 

Arizona State transfer DJ Horne exploded for 14 points in the final 20 minutes to pace the team with 18 points. He was one of four players to record double figures against the Buccaneers, joined by freshman guard Dennis Parker Jr. (12 points), graduate guard Casey Morsell (10 points), and Burns.

NC State shot an efficient 51% from the field, and it dominated the paint, too. NC State scored 44 points around the basket, compared to Charleston Southern’s 20. 

This was NC State’s final home game of its season-opening homestand before the Pack head to Las Vegas for its Thanksgiving multi-team event. NC State will play its first Power Five opponents of the season, and Vanderbilt is up first. After that, NC State will face either Arizona State or BYU. 

For Butler transfer Jayden Taylor, the Wolfpack’s defensive leader, NC State’s complete performance just builds the team’s belief in one another before their cross-country flight. 

“It just gives us more confidence,” Taylor said. “I feel like we were already confident. It’s just a little last test before a real test.”