Headline of the game — Richard Howell gets his (3rd or 4th consecutive and) 17th career double-double with an effort of 17 points and 10 rebounds.
Five NC State players finished in double figures – Leslie (19), Howell (17), Warren (16), Brown (10) and Purvis (11).
Due to our athleticism and fast breaking ability, NC State’s defense feeds our offense with both turnovers and breaking off of the defensive boards. Hopefully the guys will continue to learn this lesson and get motivated by it in the future.
Off the court, the execution of the general admission style of seating sounds like it was as poorly executed as last year. Reports on Twitter indicated that ticket holders were turned and not allowed to enter Reynolds Coliseum as the tip-off approached, despite the fact that each end zone had hundreds of empty seats.
NC State advances to 6-2 with the win and Cleveland State falls to 6-3 with the loss.
More from the N&O
Richard Howell and C.J. Leslie took advantage of an undersized Cleveland State team to lead N.C. State to an 80-63 win at Reynolds Coliseum on Saturday.
Howell had 17 points and 10 rebounds and Leslie had 19 points and eight boards. The No. 25 Wolfpack put together perhaps its best half of the season, taking a 47-32 lead at the break and then closed out the Vikings in the second half.
Howell had a double-double for the third time in four games as Cleveland State’s bigs, both listed at 6-7, couldn’t keep up with either Howell or Leslie.
As good as N.C. State’s regulars were on Saturday, maybe the loudest ovation came when walk-on Chase Cannon hit a 3-pointer in the final minute. Freshman forward T.J. Warren added 16 points off the bench and freshman guard Rodney Purvis, back in the starting lineup, scored 11 points and added some defensive energy.
The Wolfpack entered the game shooting a woeful 61 percent from the free-throw line but made 13 of 15 of its first-half free throws and 18 of 23 for the game.
