NC State stormed out to a 10-0 lead and never looked back in a 76-61 win over Georgia Tech in Atlanta. Terquavion Smith scored 18 points in the first half and 26 in the game along with eight rebounds to lead the Wolfpack in their most resounding performance of the season so far.
NC State (11-16, 4-12 ACC) entered the game dead last in the ACC and with just two road wins all season, but got a total team effort to coast to the win.
Almost nothing went right for Georgia Tech (10-15, 3-11). Michael Devoe led the Yellow Jackets with 18 points, and Rodney Howard scored 14 points. The main issue on offense was turnovers and bad outside shooting. Georgia Tech had 11 turnovers and shot 5 of 22 (22.7 percent) from 3-point range, a continuation of Saturday’s loss at Virginia, where the Yellow Jackets only hit four 3-pointers all day.
The Wolfpack went up 10-0 inside the first four minutes and extended that lead out to 28-8 before the game was 10 minutes old, all but ending the contest before it ever really got started. The lead ballooned as high as 30 points early in the second half when the visitors made it 59-29.
A lack of depth scoring also hurt the Yellow Jackets, as NC State’s bench outscored Georgia Tech’s bench 14-7.
The win snapped a six-game losing streak for the Wolfpack and moved them out of last place in the ACC, dropping Georgia Tech down into the basement. Georgia Tech has now lost three games in a row and five of its last six overall.
The Wolfpack will have over a week off before their next game at home against Boston College, and a win in that game would give it its first winning streak since December. Georgia Tech will attempt to respond quickly with a trip to Pitt on Saturday.
–Field Level Media
