Paul McNeil Jr. led six players in double figures to help North Carolina State deliver a resounding 113-69 win over Florida State on Saturday afternoon in an Atlantic Coast Conference game in Tallahassee, Fla.
McNeil tallied 21 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the field — 5 of 10 from 3-point range — and had six rebounds. Darrion Williams Jr. added 20 points and 10 rebounds for his third double-double of the season.
Ven-Allen Lubin scored 19, Matt Able had 15 points on five 3-pointers, Terrance Arceneaux added 13 points, and Quadir Copeland tallied 10.
It’s the first time the Wolfpack (12-5, 3-1) have scored 100 points in an ACC road game since Jan. 26, 1991, against Maryland. NC State tied its season high with 19 3-point baskets on 35 attempts (54.3%) and dominated in rebounding, 44-25.
After entering the week having lost 15 straight road games, the Wolfpack ended the brief trek 2-0.
Freshman Thomas Bassong led Florida State (7-9, 0-3) with a career-high 14 points. Robert McCray, Lajae Jones and Kobe MaGee added 10 apiece.
The loss was the third this season by 30-plus points for the Seminoles.
The Wolfpack made their presence felt from the jump, leading 11-0 five minutes in. The Seminoles were held scoreless for the opening 5:17, and MaGee scored the team’s only points in the opening nine minutes on a pair of threes.
NC State didn’t initially take advantage of Florida State’s slow start, leading just 15-6 nine minutes in thanks to a slow shooting start. But the Wolfpack awakened in a major way, scoring their next 21 points on seven consecutive 3-pointers without a miss to open a 36-13 lead with 6:46 left in the half.
The Wolfpack shot 48.6% from the floor and 52.4% (11 of 21) from 3-point range — led by a 4-of-5 performance from Able — and scored a season high in first-half points with a 56-31 halftime advantage.
Florida State was 34.6% overall from the floor and 2 of 12 from 3-point range. Magee led the way with nine points on 2-of-8 shooting from the field.
The Seminoles opened the second half with an 8-0 run to cut the deficit to 17 points, but NC State quickly responded, rattling off a 17-0 run to take an insurmountable 81-44 lead with 12:49 left.
NC State shot even better in the second half, going 21 of 34 (61.8%) from the floor.
–Field Level Media
