CHICAGO – NC State men’s basketball forward DJ Burns scored 14 of his 18 points in the second half as the Pack overcame an eight-point deficit to beat Vanderbilt, 70-66, Saturday night inside the United Center.
The victory gave head coach Kevin Keatts the 100th win of his NC State coaching career.
Burns finished the game with a season-high 18 points while also grabbing nine rebounds and passing out three assists. The Rock Hill, S.C., native was massive for the Pack in the second half as he scored 14 points, had eight rebounds and three assists in the final 20 minutes.
Burns was 4-of-5 from the field and 6-of-6 from the foul line in the second half.
NC State trailed 38-34 at the half and fell behind by eight points early in the second period after the Commodores scored on its first two possessions.
Casey Morsell sparked the Pack after a slow start to the second period, scoring on on a lay-up off an assist from Burns and then knocking down a three-pointer to bring the Pack within five. Morsell made another three-pointer minutes later to give NC State its first lead of the second half, 47-46, with 14:57 to go.
Morsell made another lay-up to extend NC State’s lead and then Burns finished the run with a put back layup as NC State went on a 13-0 run to turn a 46-38 deficit into a 51-46 lead with 12:40 to play.
Vanderbilt would go on a 6-0 run to take a 56-55 lead with 8:12 to play, but Jack Clark responded a minute later with a three-pointer from the corner to push NC State back into the lead.
The Pack would push its lead back to five, 61-56, with 4:37 to go, but Vanderbilt had one last rally in it, scoring eight of the next 10 points to take a 64-63 lead with 1:59 to play.
NC State went right down to Burns on its next possession and he was fouled and hit both free throws to put the Pack back in front and it would never relinquish the lead as NC State got stops on three of Vanderbilt’s final four possessions to secure the victory.
Burns and Morsell combined to score 26 of NC State’s 36 second half points.
Terquavion Smith finished with 16 points and a team-high five assists and three steals. Jarkel Joiner added 12 points while Morsell finished with 15.
The Pack only forced nine Vanderbilt turnovers, well below its season-average, but seven of the nine turnovers were in the second half.
Myles Stute led four Vanderbilt players in double figures with 16 points.
NC State returns to action Thursday evening when it hosts Louisville at PNC Arena. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the game will be televised on the ACC Network.
