Jayden Taylor came oh so close to reaching his career-high in points Friday, but that will just give him some added motivation for the future.
The Butler junior wing came out aggressive early, and then combined his strong drives with a smooth touch from the perimeter to finish with 22 points in 28 minutes. The Wolfpack took command early and never looked back in dispatching Abilene Christian 84-64 in front of a listed crowd of 12,554 at PNC Arena.
NC State improved to 2-0 and have nearly a week off before hosting Charleston Southern next Friday. Four players reached double figures for the Wolfpack.
“Jayden Taylor was really a spark plug,” NCSU coach Kevin Keatts said. “He did a great job on the defensive end. Offensively, he was really aggressive getting to the free-throw line.
“We had balanced scoring and [senior center] D.J. Burns is passing the ball at a high level (four assists).”
Taylor remembered when he scored 24 points for Butler in a 80-51 win over Georgetown to set his career high Jan. 1, 2023. Taylor was benched following a 78-56 loss against Creighton on Dec. 22, and then had two points in 15 minutes off the bench the next game against Providence. He had extra motivation against the Hoyas.
“I wasn’t going to lie, but I was,” said Taylor about being angry going into the Georgetown game. “It was ‘Dang, I have to come off the bench. OK, just watch this.’ I remember that game.
“I am going to get it this season.”
Taylor would have enjoyed a more recent NC State tradition that Burns said Keatts created — pouring water on players who achieve their career high.
With nearly a brand new squad, they are also finding out about another Wolfpack tradition after road wins. NC State will play Vanderbilt on Nov. 23 in Las Vegas, Nev.
“The water comes from winning,” Keatts said. “Winning is so hard, you have to celebrate. We do the ice cream on the road.”
Abilene Christian had upset Oklahoma State on Monday, which raised eyebrows going into Friday’s game at NC State. However just one Abilene Christian player reached double figures and NCSU the Bulldogs to 35.1 percent shooting.
“We aren’t Oklahoma State,” Taylor said. “We are NC State, so not really That was a good win [for Abilene Christian], but that isn’t us.”
NC State is still in the process of finding its way with six newcomers playing the first two games. One part of the game coach Kevin Keatts wanted to see improvement in was getting inside the paint. NC State went 4 of 7 from the free-throw line in the 72-59 win over The Citadel on Monday, with the Bulldogs going 13 of 24 at the line.
Departing guards Jarkel Joiner and Terquavion Smith combined for 283 free-throw attempts last year.
“I didn’t like on Monday that we took seven free throws, and someone came into our house a lot more,” Keatts said. “One of concentrations was to get to the paint and get to the free-throw line.”
NC State were still out-paced on free-throw attempts against Abilene Christian, but it narrowed. The Wolfpack went 20 of 24 at the charity stripe, with Taylor leading the way with making all nine of his attempts. Seven of his first nine points came at the line to help NC State build an early 25-15 lead.
“We just wanted to come out today with a lot of energy and control what we can control,” Taylor said. “They have given me the confidence to be ultra aggressive from the jump.
“Coach Keatts gives me the ultimate confidence.”
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