North Carolina State will look to extend its winning streak to three games Tuesday night when the Wolfpack hosts William & Mary in Raleigh, N.C.
The Wolfpack (6-1) last played Friday, beating Butler 76-61 in the fifth-place game of the Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament on Friday at Paradise Island, Bahamas. William & Mary (3-4) had won two games in succession before falling at Pitt 80-64 on Friday.
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NC State led Butler 35-22 at halftime and by 20 on two occasions midway through the second half in cruising behind five players scoring in double figures.
Jarkel Joiner scored 15 points, while D.J Burns Jr. added 14. Dusan Mahorcic chipped in 13 points and six rebounds, with Jack Clark posting 10 points and a game-high eight rebounds. Terquavion Smith finished with 10 points, five rebounds and five assists.
NC State’s lone loss was an 80-74 setback came against then-No. 3 Kansas in the first game of the Battle 4 Atlantis event Wednesday. The Wolfpack rebounded to knock off Dayton 76-64 the next day.
“You’re fortunate if you can get out here with one win,” NC State coach Kevin Keatts said. “Two is great, and then three is over the top.”
William & Mary is two victories away from equaling its win total from all of last season, which started with the Tribe dropping 12 of their first 13 games en route to finishing 5-27.
William & Mary led Pitt 37-33 at the half before getting outscored 47-27 in the second half.
Ben Wright scored a game-high 24 points to go along with 11 rebounds for the Tribe, while Anders Nelson added 12 points and six assists.
“The first half was the best half of basketball we’ve played all season,” William & Mary coach Dane Fischer said. “We had great defensive focus and took away what we wanted to take away for the most part. Offensively, we were really patient and worked to get great shots and took care of the ball.
“In the second half, we just couldn’t get stops. They hurt us on the inside and then they hurt us outside. Offensively, we became unglued and tried to do too much. But overall, I was pleased with the effort for 40 minutes. We just have to clean up some execution.”
–Field Level Media
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