Pack Takes Down Varese All Stars in First Exhibition Game in Italy
8/5/2017 6:01:00 PM | Men's Basketball
The NC State men's basketball team played its first exhibition game on its Italy tour on Saturday night defeating the Varese All Stars, 100-64, in a game played inside a sweltering gymnasium outside of Milan.
The Pack led by six at the end of the first quarter, but the constant defensive pressure and quick pace NC State played with tired out the Varese team. NC State outscored Varese, 24-10, in the second half to take a 52-32 lead into the break.Â
Varese never got any closer in the second half as NC State's defense finished with 57 deflections and 21 steals in the victory.Â
After the game, the Varese team presented Pack guard Allerik Freeman with a special award for leading NC State in scoring with 17 points. The award is in honor of one of Varese's former players that passed away from brain cancer.
Overall, six players scored in double figures for the Pack.
NC State still has two games remaining during its foreign trip to Italy. Saturday night marks the final night in Milan for the Pack. NC State still has Italian cities Florence, Rome and Venice left to visit.
Coach Keatts on the Game:
"I thought we played hard. Though, we didn't do everything correct, I thought our effort was great. Obviously, when you play your first game, you certainly are going to have some things you need to work on, but I thought our guys played extremely hard. We shared the basketball and I thought we got out in transition."
"We chart deflections and we had 28 at the half and our goal is 40 for the game. I thought we were very active. I think there are some things we need to work on defensively, but I thought we moved forward today."
"We're trying to get these guys to play as hard as they can for a short amount of time and then put their hand up in the air and let someone else come in and play hard. I was very happy with the first game. We'll go back and watch a little tape and try to figure out some things we need to work on before we play again Monday."
The Pack led by six at the end of the first quarter, but the constant defensive pressure and quick pace NC State played with tired out the Varese team. NC State outscored Varese, 24-10, in the second half to take a 52-32 lead into the break.Â
Varese never got any closer in the second half as NC State's defense finished with 57 deflections and 21 steals in the victory.Â
After the game, the Varese team presented Pack guard Allerik Freeman with a special award for leading NC State in scoring with 17 points. The award is in honor of one of Varese's former players that passed away from brain cancer.
Overall, six players scored in double figures for the Pack.
NC State still has two games remaining during its foreign trip to Italy. Saturday night marks the final night in Milan for the Pack. NC State still has Italian cities Florence, Rome and Venice left to visit.
Coach Keatts on the Game:
"I thought we played hard. Though, we didn't do everything correct, I thought our effort was great. Obviously, when you play your first game, you certainly are going to have some things you need to work on, but I thought our guys played extremely hard. We shared the basketball and I thought we got out in transition."
"We chart deflections and we had 28 at the half and our goal is 40 for the game. I thought we were very active. I think there are some things we need to work on defensively, but I thought we moved forward today."
"We're trying to get these guys to play as hard as they can for a short amount of time and then put their hand up in the air and let someone else come in and play hard. I was very happy with the first game. We'll go back and watch a little tape and try to figure out some things we need to work on before we play again Monday."
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