Pack Rolls Past Seahawks
The NC State basketball team beat UNC-Wilmington on Saturday afternoon 72-51 to get its ninth win of the season. The Wolfpack (9-4) had a much better outing this afternoon than the last one which was a sloppy win over the Pirates. Early on there was not a good flow to the game and points were hard to come by on both sides. However, Brandon Costner had a career day and it started early. Before long he was in double figures and the Seahawks were down. The Pack took a 33-25 lead into the break with Costner having 18 points and 10 rebounds. That is right, a double double at half time! The second half started the way the first half ended, Brandon Costner hitting shots. He had a VERY nice night finishing with 27 points and 19 rebounds. The other major offensive force this afternoon was Ben McCauley who added 19 points.
Overall, I thought we played pretty well. Our defense was very good holding UNC-Wilmington to 29% shooting from the floor, including 13.6% from three point land. Turnovers were still a problem, 15, but they seemed to come early and we got the problems fixed and were better in the second half. Costner was the best player on the floor this afternoon however McCauley was a close second. For a big man McCauley is a great passer and finisher. Grant did not play a great and seems to be a little slump. He did have 12 points so hopefully he is coming out of it. Trevor added a three pointer and Dennis had some productive minutes with 5 points and 7 rebounds. Fells did not have a great offensive day, only 6 points, but played good defense and added 4 assist and 2 blocks. Late in the game Nieman, Davis, and Albritton saw a minute of action. Comfortable wins are always nice so we will take this one, have a nice New Year’s Eve party, and then focus on UNCG on January 2.
On another note, WRAL reported tonight that Atsur will try and play a little bit against UNCG so he can be ready for Boston College on January 6.