Wolfpack Rolls Past Furman, 92-73

RALEIGH – The NC State men’s basketball team forced 20 turnovers Tuesday night to roll past Furman, 92-73, inside PNC Arena.

The Pack responded to the Paladins’ game-opening basket with a 10-0 run to take an early 10-2 lead. Furman’s early 2-0 edge was the Paladins’ only lead of the game.

The Pack increased the lead to 26-10 barely eight minutes into the game, but Furman – the preseason Southern Conference favorites – answered with an 11-0 run to cut NC State’s lead to 26-21 lead with 8:06 remaining in the first half.

The Pack settled down though and countered a Furman run with a 17-6 spurt of its own to close the half and take a 48-29 advantage into the halftime break.

NC State continued to stretch the lead out of the locker room, going on another 17-6 run to start the second half to build a 30-point lead, 65-35, just four minutes into the final period.

Five members of the Wolfpack finished in double figures, as Terquavion Smith posted a game-high 24 points, Casey Morsell added 17, Jack Clark totaled 15, LJ Thomas finished with a career-high 14 points, and Jarkel Joiner added 10. DJ Burns, Ebenezer Dowuona, and Thomas each posted five rebounds, while Smith and Joiner finished passing out five assists each.

Defensively, NC State forced the Paladins into 20 turnovers on the night, surpassing their season average of 12.7 in the first half alone with 14 in the opening frame. Furthermore, the 12 first-half steals forced by the Pack was the most in a half this season, and the 17 total steals tied the Pack’s mark from Nov. 15 against FIU for the most in a game this season.

Now sitting at 9-3 on the year, Kevin Keatts‘ squad will shift its focus to the final nonconference game of the 2022-23 slate, a neutral-site tilt against Vanderbilt on Saturday, Dec. 17. Saturday’s contest against the Commodores will be held at the United Center in Chicago, Ill. as part of the Legends of Basketball Showcase. Tipoff is slated for 10:30 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on the CBS Sports Network.