NC State Cruises to Victory Over Bethune-Cookman
RALEIGH, N.C. – The NC State men’s basketball team never trailed in dispatching Bethune-Cookman, 65-48, Thursday evening inside James T. Valvano Arena at Reynolds Coliseum.
With the win, NC State improves to 7-2 on the season.
Dereon Seabron led the Wolfpack with 16 points and 14 rebounds for this ACC-best sixth double-double of the season. The Norfolk, Va., has now led NC State in rebounding in all nine games this season.
Terquavion Smith added 14 points while Jericole Hellems hit his first five shots of the game to finish with 13 points. Hellems added a team-high four steals.
Ebenezer Dowuona continued his strong defensive presence as he blocked four Bethune-Cookman shots and also added eight points and eight rebounds.
NC State jumped out to a 9-0 lead in the opening minutes of the game as the Pack hit four of its first six shots. The lead stretched to 10, 14-4, two minutes later but the Pack could never pull away from Bethune-Cookman in the first half as the Wildcats would cut the deficit to five multiple times in the first half.
NC State would go into halftime with a 34-29 advantage.In the second half, the Pack opened up a 13 point lead just five minutes into the final period and Bethune-Cookman would never get closer than nine points the rest of the game.
NC State is back in action Sunday in the Basketball Hall of Fame Invitational in Brooklyn, N.Y., when it faces top-ranked Purdue. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m., and the game will be televised on the Big Ten Network. NC State has six wins all-time against teams ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press poll.