11/6/2018 basketball Edit

NC State rolls past Mount St. Mary's in opener, 105-55

Aaron Beard

Associated Press

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Fifth-year senior wing Torin Dorn had a career-high with 28 points in the win. (Ken Martin/The Wolfpacker)

Torin Dorn had a career-high 28 points while North Carolina State shot 65 percent after halftime to beat Mount St. Mary’s 105-55 on Tuesday night in the season opener for both teams.

Markell Johnson added 17 points for the Wolfpack (1-0), who hit an open-court groove with a 21-2 run that blew the game open. Johnson hit a pair of 3-pointers during the 10-0 flurry that started the burst, which saw the Wolfpack abruptly go from can’t-hit to can’t-miss shooting from behind the arc.

NC State made just 2 of 12 3s in the first 25 minutes. The Wolfpack went 8 of 10 from behind the arc the rest of the night in a dominating sprint to the final horn.

Jalen Gibbs scored a career-high 24 points to lead the Mountaineers (0-1), who trailed just 40-30 at halftime before the Wolfpack took over in the final 12½ minutes.

BIG PICTURE

Mount St. Mary’s: The Mountaineers have 10 new players on the roster and a new coach in Dan Engelstad, who left Southern Vermont after five seasons to take over after Jamion Christian left to become Siena’s head coach in the spring. Gibbs, who played at Drake last year, was the only player who got into much of a rhythm as the Mountaineers fell to 3-27 in season openers since moving to Division I for the 1988-89 season.

NC State: This was just a first step (that counts in the standings, anyway) toward the process of building a cohesive unit that is ready to compete in the Atlantic Coast Conference. As with Mount St. Mary’s, there are 10 newcomers to the team. And five transfers saw action Tuesday, including C.J. Bryce (UNC Wilmington), Devon Daniels (Utah) and Samford graduate transfer Wyatt Walker in the starting lineup. Fittingly, Dorn as the team’s top returning scorer led the way in a strong start to his final season.

UP NEXT

Mount St. Mary’s: The Mountaineers of the Northeast Conference visit Hofstra on Friday.