Boston College was woefully undermanned, and N.C. State basketball was searching for its first win since the loss of senior guard Devon Daniels to an ACL injury.
The result? A lopsided 81-65 win for the Wolfpack on Saturday, as North Carolina State used a massive 37-3 run in the first half to bury the Eagles, who were playing their first game in three weeks and had just six scholarship players available.
BC actually seized the early lead, jumping out to a 5-0 advantage as the Wolfpack missed their first three shot attempts. But redshirt junior guard Thomas Allen got State going with a jumper nearly three minutes in, and from there, the Wolfpack seized complete control, a reversal from the teams’ first meeting that went down to the final minutes before N.C. State pulled out the 3-point win.
On Saturday, Boston College needed more than 12 minutes to score another six points after that 5-0 start and missed 10 consecutive 3-point attempts. And on the inside, the Eagles had no answer for N.C. State’s frontcourt duo of redshirt senior D.J. Funderburk and redshirt sophomore Manny Bates. The Wolfpack fed them inside, and they consistently drew fouls or finished layups and dunks.
Even a late surge from Boston College wasn’t enough to cut the State’s lead below 20 points before halftime, and the Wolfpack came back from the break and immediately went back to work, ripping off a 9-0 run to help ensure the team’s biggest ACC win of the year.
As a whole, N.C. State outscored Boston College in the paint 42-22, led by 14 points and seven rebounds each from Funderburk and Bates.
But it was true freshman guard Shakeel Moore who led the way — in the first alone he had 11 points shooting a perfect 5-for-5 from the field. He extended that to 19 points on 75% shooting in the second half, both career highs, while adding six rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Jericole Hellems, who entered the contest averaging more than 20 points over the past three games, also reached double figures with 11 points on 5-for-9 shooting. As a team, N.C. State shot 51.6% from the field, its highest percentage of the calendar year, while holding BC to 39%, including 28.6% in the first half.
NEXT NC STATE BASKETBALL GAME
Who: NC State (8-7, 4-6 ACC) vs. Syracuse (10-5, 4-4 ACC)
When: 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 9
Where: PNC Arena, Raleigh, North Carolina
Watch: ACC Network
