Dennis Parker Jr. notched 18 points off the bench and Jayden Taylor scored 16 of his 18 points in the second half as NC State defeated Vanderbilt 84-78 on the opening night of the Vegas Showdown on Thursday in Las Vegas.
DJ Burns Jr. had 13 points and nine rebounds and Casey Morsell added 12 points for the Wolfpack.
NC State (4-0) will play Brigham Young on Friday in the title game after the Cougars beat Arizona State 77-49 Thursday. Vanderbilt (3-2) will meet the Sun Devils.
Tyrin Lawrence poured in 21 points, Ven-Allen Lubin had 16 points and eight rebounds, and reserve Jason Rivera-Torres had 12 points, including three 3-pointers, for Vanderbilt.
Parker made a pair of free throws with 2:12 left to push the edge to 76-68 and end an NC State scoring drought that was approaching three minutes. The Wolfpack had just two field goals in the last six minutes, and both were dunks.
NC State’s hot shooting cooled off considerably in the second half, with the Wolfpack finishing at 42.9 percent from the field.
The Wolfpack’s aggressive defense meant the Commodores had chances at the free-throw line, but they converted only 21 of 30.
Vanderbilt scored the last four points of the first half and the first eight points of the second half, closing within 43-41. It took the Wolfpack just slightly more than three minutes to rebuild a double-digit lead in what became a 17-2 spurt, aided by seven points in a row from Taylor.
NC State’s 54.5 percent shooting from the field was largely responsible for a 43-33 halftime lead. The Commodores were just 2-for-11 on 3-pointers in the half.
A 15-3 burst for the Wolfpack gave it a 28-20 lead. Vanderbilt committed seven turnovers in the first 14 minutes and soon after, with Michael O’Connell scoring five straight points, NC State’s lead was 38-25.
The Wolfpack also defeated Vanderbilt last season in a neutral-site game.
–Field Level Media
