Published Dec 2, 2017
Quick hits from NC State's win over South Carolina State
Matt Carter  •  TheWolfpackCentral
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Quick hits and notes from NC State’s 103-71 win over South Carolina State in front of 13,842 fans at PNC Arena on Wednesday evening in Raleigh.

Play of the game

The incredible alertness and professionalism of the medical and training staffs of South Carolina State, NC State and Wake EMT who responded to South Carolina State fifth-year senior guard Tyvoris Solomon collapsing on the court and having his heart stop beating.

South Carolina State’s trainer was quickly giving Solomon CPR while the public address announcer broadcasted an alert for medical attention to the Bulldogs’ bench. Within minutes Wake EMT was on the scene along with assistance from the Pack’s medical and training staff to lead a team effort to resuscitate Solomon and transport him to Rex Hospital.

The game, with a fresh perspective, continued at the unanimous request of the South Carolina State basketball team.

Highlight of the game

The standing ovation and loud cheers that the NC State fans provided first for the South Carolina State players as they took the took the court following the delay and then for the assistant coaches who emerged seconds later and took over the team while head coach Murray Garvin traveled to the hospital with his stricken player.

Player of the game

All the medical personnel and trainers that worked together to potentially save someone’s life.

There was a game played

South Carolina State was just 1-6 entering the game and not expected to provide much competition for NC State, and that proved to be the case. The Pack was up 22-5 at the moment of Solomon’s emergency after scoring the first 15 points of the contest.

The Wolfpack struggled to regain its energy following what was about a 40-minute delay for the remainder of the first half, but even so the Bulldogs never got closer than 14 before NC State regained the bounce in its step in the second half.

Efficient offense

NC State may have been playing an overmatched opponent in South Carolina State, but that still does not deny the fact that the offense operated at times at a high level. NCSU shot 41 of 65 from the field, or 63.1 percent, and had a PNC-Arena record 31 assists, four off the school record for a single game. The Pack had 35 assists against Wake Forest in 1983.

NCSU’s shooting percentage is easily a season-high for the Pack, besting the 54.1 percent it shot in a win over Presbyterian on Nov. 16. The 103 points is also a season-high, topping the 102 over VMI in the season opener Nov. 10. It is the first time NC State has had a pair of 100-point games in one season since 2002-03.

That particular squad lost rode a strong run from center Josh Powell to the ACC title game where the Devils’ rallied to beat NCSU. It then lost at the buzzer to California in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Lots of individual standouts

Here is a breakdown of some of the individual performances of note:

• Fifth-year senior post player Lennard Freeman had 19 points while making all seven of his field goal attempts from the floor. He played just 17 minutes.

• Sophomore center Omer Yurtseven also only played 17 minutes and had 17 points on 8-of-9 shooting and added eight rebounds and four blocks, which was one off his career-high.

• Redshirt junior forward Torin Dorn had his fifth career double by scoring 16 points (on 8-of-8 shooting) and grabbing 10 rebounds in 28 minutes. It is his first double-double of this season.

• Freshman guard Braxton Beverly made his first threes at PNC Arena, connecting on 3 of 7 in the game to finish with nine points, but he also had a career-high nine assists with just one turnover. Beverly had 10 assists in his first six games combined.

• Sophomore guard Markell Johnson also had a career-high in assists, dishing out 12 in 27 minutes to go with his seven points. He had just three turnovers as well.

• In just his third game seeing action his season, junior forward Shaun Kirk had career-highs across the board with seven points and four rebounds in 18 minutes. He had never played more than 13 minutes in a game before.

• Walk-on redshirt freshman guard Spencer Newman made his Wolfpack debut. He missed last season with an injury. Newman played five minutes but did not attempt a shot.

Spotted at the game

Some official visitors in football were seen along with head coach Dave Doeren, who sat with the television crew for the first four minutes of the second half.

It was the annual Toys for Tots game, and a check was presented to the charity for $4,000. Fans also donated 350 individual toy items.

Scoring between official timeouts

This year we will keep track of the scoring between each official timeout to help give an idea of the game flow:

First half

20:00-14:49: NC State 20, South Carolina State 5

14:49-11:58: NC State 4, South Carolina State 2

11:58-7:57: South Carolina State 5, NC State 4

7:57-3:30: South Carolina State 13, NC State 11

3:30-Halftime: NC State 9, South Carolina State 8

Second half

20:00-14:30: NC State 18, South Carolina State 10

14:30-12:00: NC State 10, South Carolina State 3

12:00-7:40: NC State 11, South Carolina State 9

7:40-3:56: South Carolina State 10, NC State 8

3:56-Final: NC State State 8, South Carolina State 6

Plus/minus

Here is the plus/minus for each player (the difference between points scored while they were on the floor) on NCSU:

• Fifth-year senior guard Allerik Freeman: +33 (23 minutes played)

• Dorn: +29 (28)

• Yurtseven: +23 (17)

• Johnson: +22 (27)

• Beverly: +20 (27)

• Fifth-year senior guard Hunt: +14 (18)

• Lennard Freeman: +9 (17)

• Freshman guard Lavar Batts Jr.: +8 (20)

• Kirk: +3 (18)

• Newman: -1 (5)

What the win means

NC State is 7-2 and South Carolina State falls to 1-7. NCSU is 3-0 all-time against the Bulldogs and 30-1 against teams from the MEAC.

Other stats of note

• NC State had a crushing 62-40 advantage in points in the paint.

• The 18-16 turnover margin win for the Pack translated into a 26-19 edge in points off turnovers.

• South Carolina State had a 27-21 fast break points advantage.

• Defensively NC State had four blocks (all by Yurtseven) and eight steals. South Carolina State had nine steals and one rejection.

• NC State won the battle of the boards 36-27 overall but it was even 9-9 on the offensive glass (partially due to how well NCSU shot). Both teams had 12 second-chance points.

• The Pack’s bench outscored South Carolina State’s reserves 39-34.

• NC State led for 39:46 and the game was tied for the opening 14 seconds.

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• Talk about it inside The State of Basketball

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