NC State men’s basketball coasts past Maryland Eastern Shore
After Maryland Eastern Shore jumped out to an early lead, NC State guard Jayden Taylor exploded with 7 quick points in under a minute to hand the Wolfpack its first multi-possession lead of the night.
And that was all the breathing room the Wolfpack needed to coast past the Hawks in a 93-61 victory in NC State’s Heritage Game at Reynolds Coliseum on Wednesday night.
“I thought our guys did a really good job,” NC State coach Kevin Keatts said. “We were a little slow getting started, but once we got going, everything went in our direction. We did it really on the defensive end, so really proud of our guys.”
Taylor continued his hot scoring throughout the night and finished with a team-high 21 points to go with his four rebounds and two assists.
While Taylor poured in the points, so did his Wolfpack teammates. NC State had five other players in double figures: graduate forward DJ Burns (15), graduate guard Casey Morsell (12), sophomore guard MJ Rice (11) and graduate guard DJ Horne (10).
The Pack’s depth has been helpful this season, and against the Hawks it was no different.
Keatts raved about his team’s ability to spread the wealth when it comes to scoring the basketball.
“I love our versatility,” Keatts said. “I love the fact that when you go to scout us, you can’t really focus in on one or two players because we’ve got four or five guys on any given night that can lead us in scoring.”
Though NC State raced past Maryland Eastern Shore, the Hawks stayed in the contest for much of the first half, and clawed back each time the Pack opened up a run. NC State’s largest lead of the first 20 minutes was 12, but that did not last long after halftime.
NC State opened up a 20 point lead midway through the second half, which blossomed into a 30-point advantage in the final minutes of the contest. The Pack closed on a 13-2 run over the final 4:25, which included keeping the Hawks scoreless for the final 3:45.
The red and white fed off of the sold-out crowd for much of the night, especially as its lead continued to grow down the stretch.
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Taylor, who had not played inside Reynolds until Wednesday, could not believe how loud the building got with the 5,500 fans in attendance.
“The fans were amazing tonight,” Taylor said. “That definitely gives us an advantage in my opinion. Them just being so engaged in the game, and so loud, that’s surreal. I like how they’re so close, it was a good feeling for me.”
The Wolfpack’s hot performance came off the heels of honoring NC State legend David Thompson, who was a three-time ACC Player of the Year, with a statue outside the building earlier in the day.
NC State was motivated to play well in front of the Wolfpack’s most dominant player in program history.
“Tonight’s game was all about, ‘Hey, the GOAT’s in the building, and it was his day,’” Keatts said. “‘So we better find a way to win, I don’t care who we play.’”
The Pack did just that, and Taylor thought the statue unveiling kicked the day off with a high vibe around the university. That positivity seemed to continue in the commanding win over the Hawks.
“We had the David Thompson statue unveiling today, and I feel like there was a lot of energy around State today,” Taylor said. “It just felt good to do that and honor him.”
