Wolfpack Downs Loyola Chicago 79-77 - NC State University Athletics

Saturday, November 26

Raleigh, NC

4:00 p.m.

NC State

5-1

Loyola (Chicago)

5-2

Team	1	2	F
Loyola Chicago	43	34	77
NC State	44	35	79

Box Score (PDF)

11/26/2016 6:53:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Freshman Dennis Smith, Jr., leads the Pack with 30 points, seven assists and six rebounds

RALEIGH, N.C. – The NC State men's basketball team earned its fifth win of the year on Saturday afternoon at PNC Arena with a 79-77 victory over Loyola Chicago. The triple threat backcourt of Dennis Smith, Jr., Terry Henderson and Torin Dorn led the Pack with 69 of the team's 79 points.

Smith led the way with 30 points, seven assists and six rebounds – a team high in all three categories. Smith also played a full 40 minutes. His 30 points are tied with Brandon Costner's 30-point game against Duke in 2007 for the fifth-most points in a single game for a freshman in program history. The points are the most for a freshman since T.J. Warren had 31 points against Florida State on Feb. 19, 2013.

Dorn scored 20 points and added five rebounds, while going 7-for-10 from the floor. Henderson added 19 points to round out the trio's scoring.

The Wolfpack clawed its way to a halftime lead after Loyola jumped out to a double-digit advantage early in the game. Loyola led by as many as 11 during the opening 20 minutes, but an 8-0 Wolfpack run over the final three minutes of the first half gave NC State a 44-43 advantage at the half.

Loyola hit 7-of-12 three-pointers in the first half and finished the game with 10 triples.

NC State opened the second half on a 7-0 run to extend its lead to 51-43 with 18:30 left in the game. The Ramblers added a run of their own to re-take the lead by a point at the 12:05 mark and then again at the 7:38 mark.

The Pack responded both times and eventually put away the visitors with a strong defensive stand over the final stretch. NC State held Loyola without a field goal for 6:31 during the final seven minutes of the game. Loyola ended its long field goal drought with a lay-up with 10.4 seconds remaining.

After NC State missed the front end of a one-and-one, freshman Markell Johnson forced a steal with less than three second remaining to clinch the contest.

Junior forward Abdul-Malik Abu finished the game with only six points, but he was responsible two of NC State's final three field goals of the game. His tip-in off a missed jump shot by Johnson gave the Pack a 73-71 lead. NC State would never trail again. With the Pack leading 75-73, Abu chased down another offensive rebound and then after passing the ball back out was rewarded with a return pass from Smith leading to a dunk.

Loyola was led in scoring by Aundre Jackson who scored 20 points off-the-bench. Milton Doyle (14), Ben Richardson (14) and Clayton Custer (11) also reached double figures for the Ramblers.

Up Next:
NC State will head to Urbana-Champaign, Ill., Tuesday, Nov. 29^th for its ACC-Big 10 Challenge against Illinois. It will mark the first true road game for the Pack this season and will be broadcast on ESPNU at 9 p.m. ET.