
Poor Shooting Dooms Pack Against UNC
1/10/2024 11:09:00 PM | Men's Basketball
RALEIGH - The NC State men's basketball team fell to in-state foe UNC, 67-54, Wednesday evening in front of a sold out PNC Arena crowd.Â
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Casey Morsell led the Wolfpack in scoring with 12 points, going a perfect 6-for-6 from the charity stripe. Morsell scored the 1,000th point of his collegiate career on a free throw in the first half.
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The Ft. Washington, Md., native tied his season-high with six rebounds.
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D.J. Burns, Jr. was the only other NC State player to reach double figures with 11 points.Â
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Guard DJ Horne grabbed a career-high nine rebounds.
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The Wolfpack struggled from all areas of the floor, shooting just 26.9 percent on the evening.Â
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After trailing by as many as six in the first half, the Wolfpack cut the deficit to two, heading into the break thanks to a 6-2 scoring run across the final two minutes of the frame. Burns led all NC State scorers with seven points in the half.Â
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Mohamed Diarra's fourth three-pointer of the season came midway through the second half and cut the Tar Heel lead back down to two, 46-44. After a UNC basket to push the lead back to four, Ben Middlebrooks found a cutting Michael O'Connell for a lay-up to bring the Pack back within two, 48-46, with 10:19 to play.
NC State would only connect on three field goals the rest of the game though as UNC went on a 19-4 run to take a 67-50 lead with 4:06 to go and effectively put the game away.
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RJ Davis led the way offensively for the Tar Heels, finishing with 16 points and going 4-for-10 from three-point range.Â
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Harrison Ingram grabbed a game-high 19 rebounds for the Heels while Elliot Cadeau finished with 11 points and a game-high six assists.
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The Wolfpack head to Kentucky to take on Louisville on Saturday Jan. 13. Tipoff is set for 12pm on The CW.Â
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