November 6th, 2023
Raleigh,NC- On Opening Night of College Basketball, the NC State Wolfpack (1-0, 0-0) hosted the visiting Citadel Bulldogs (0-1,0-0) at PNC Arena. The Citadel finished the 2022-2023 season 10-22 and missed the NCAA tournament. The Pack came in fresh off an NCAA Tournament bid after finshing the regular season at 23-11 before losing to Clemson in the ACC Tournament. The Wolfpack would go on to face Creighton in the first round of NCAA tournament who ended the Wolfpack season with a 72-63 loss.
DJ Burns started off the night 6 straight points for the Pack as they got off to a quick 10-4 start. The score was 12-6 at the under 8 media timeout. NC State would extend the lead to 11 at the under 8 media timeout with the Pack leading 22-11. The on a beautiful steal from DJ Burns and pass to Jayden Taylor for the hoop and the foul.
NC State would carry a 28-21 lead in to the under four-minute media time-out as the Wolfpack continued to play pressure defense on the Bulldogs throughout the half leading to 7 forced turnovers which led to 7 points off turnovers.
DJ Burns led the Pack throughout the first half as the Bulldogs could seemingly find no answer for Burns as he paced the Pack with ten first half points. Senior forward Mohammad Diarra led the Pack with 6 first half rebounds. Senior Casey Morsell led the team with 2 first half assists. The Wolfpack got off to a hot start shooting 45.5% as a team in the first while being stingy on the defensive end of the floor holding the Bulldogs to 35.7% shooting in the first half.
Incoming Senior transfer Michael O’Connell was lethal from behind the 3-point line in the first hitting 3-4. As a team the Pack were 4-14 for 28.6% in the first half. O’Connell finished the first half shooting 4-5 and finished with 11 points. NC State would carry a 36-27 lead into the half.
The Wolfpack would continue to play stingy defense in the start of the second half as the Citadel did not get their first point until over 3 minutes into the second half. NC State would carry the lead to 42-33 at the under 16 media timeout. Midway through the second half, the lead ballooned to 18 points as Casey Morsell got his first score of the night.
NC State was able to own the paint for most of the night as Burns and Diarra combined for 26 points and 18 rebounds. NC State also got production from its bench as well as they outscored the Bulldogs 22-9. Diarra collected his 1st double double of the year as he tallied 10 points and 14 Rebounds. NC State would finish the half 10-28 from behind the arc good for 37% and 29-66 from the floor which was good for 43.9%. The Wolfpack would go on to a 72-59 win over Bulldogs earning their first win of the season.
Next up for the Wolfpack is a Friday Matchup with Abilene Christian at 7 PM back at PNC Arena!
