NC State falls short to Pittsburgh

RALEIGH, N.C. – DJ Burns Jr scored a season-high of 19 points for the North Carolina State Wolfpack in Wednesday’s tough 67-64 loss against Pittsburgh Panthers in the PNC Arena. 

The Panthers came out confidently, got a rhythm going, and got ahead of the Pack early in the game. 

Ben Middlebrooks stepped up for the Pack, scoring seven of the first 15 points. DJ Horne went on a 6-0 run with back-to-back three-pointers. 

Despite only turning over the ball four times in the first half, Pittsburgh capitalized off three NC State turnovers. 

The Pack closed an 11-point deficit to tie the game with 3:41 remaining in the first half. However, NC State struggled offensively in the first half with too many missed shots. 

DJ Horne closed out the half with four three-pointers. 

Pittsburgh picked up where they left off and moved the ball well to start the second half. Jaland Lowe opened for the Panthers with a 5-0 run alone. 

The Pack moved more efficiently offensively to start the second half but still had hiccups in its play. 

The NC State defense began to step up and forced the Panthers on a three-minute scoring drought. Fouls began to add up for the Pack before tying the game up at 56 with a three-pointer from Casey Morsell. 

The game took a turn once NC State regained the lead for the first time since leading 5-3.  

After going back-and-forth with the lead, Pittsburgh secured the win, 67-64. 

NC State did not defend well against the Panthers offense. Pittsburgh led for much of the game (33:38). NC State struggled with free throws, making only six total points. 

Pittsburgh controlled the game while the energy from NC State was not all the way there for Wednesday’s game. The Pack thrived mainly in the paint. DJ Burns Jr was active in the offense for the Pack. Burns followed DJ Horne with 19 points. DJ Horne scored 25 points. 

Moving forward, DJ Burns Jr must stay active in the offense. He thrives in the paint. The offense ran through DJ Horne for Wednesday’s matchup. DJ Horne must continue to stay hot, along with Burns and work on moving the ball effectively as a whole. 

Up next, NC State will face Wake Forest Feb 10 at 4 P.M.