Tuesday, November 9
Raleigh, N.C.
8 p.m.
Bucknell University
0-1,0-0Patriot
70
at
88
North Carolina State
1-0,0-0ACC
1
2
F
Bucknell
40
30
70
NC State
40
48
88
Photo by: Keenan Hairston
N.C. State Comes from Behind to Defeat Men’s Basketball, 88-70, on Opening Night
11/9/2021 10:22:00 PM | Men's Basketball
RALEIGH, N.C. – Bucknell opened the 2021-22 season with a terrific first-half performance, but North Carolina State had too much length in the backcourt and pulled away in the second half for an 88-70 victory at PNC Arena on Tuesday night.
Co-captains Xander Rice and Andrew Funk led the Bison with 14 points apiece. Raleigh native Jake van der Heijden tallied 11, Josh Adoh scored 12, and Andre Screen had 10 points and eight rebounds as all five starters scored in double figures.
Jericole Hellems paced N.C. State with 22 points, freshman Terquavion Smith had 20 in his debut, and Deron Seabron had 18 points and 11 rebounds while sparking the Wolfpack's big second half.
Bucknell led for all but about a minute in the first half, buoyed by a 13-1 start. Adoh hit a corner three on the very first possession of the season. Screen scored in the paint and van der Heijden followed with a 3-pointer for an 8-0 lead.
After an N.C. State free throw, Screen drove the lane uncontested for a dunk, and Rice swished a 3-pointer from the left wing for a stunning 13-1 lead.
After starting 0-for-10 from the field, the Wolfpack crept back in it, pulling within 15-13 on a transition dunk from Hellems, but the Bison answered with another 9-0 spurt. Rice drove the lane twice for buckets, tacking a free throw onto the latter at the under-12 television timeout, and Screen and Funk followed to make it 24-13.
Bucknell went a bit cold in the final four minutes of the half, and N.C. State tied it for the first time on a 3-point pay by Hellems with 1:13 to play. Smith then stole the inbounds pass and tipped in his own miss to give the Wolfpack their first lead at 40-38 with 1:08 left.
The Bison closed the half with a defensive stop and an Alex Timmerman layup with a second to spare, making it a 40-40 game at the break.
Bucknell missed its first four 3-point attempts to start the second half, and the Wolfpack took a 53-48 lead on a layup by Smith. Funk knocked down a transition three to bring the Bison within two, but a corner trey by Hellems and a layup by Seabron pushed the Wolfpack lead to 58-51 and forced a Bucknell timeout.
Seabron scored on penetration four times in about two-and-a-half minutes, helping the Wolfpack open up a double-digit lead. Two more Seabron buckets around the five-minute mark capped a 30-11 stretch and gave N.C. State a commanding 82-63 lead.
"I thought we came out and executed our offense very well, and we had them on their heels early in the game," said head coach Nathan Davis. "Their size and speed caught up to us there in the second half, but overall I was very pleased with the way the guys competed and executed. We have a chance to be very good, but we need to get back to work tomorrow and keep improving with a good Penn team coming into Sojka Pavilion on Sunday."
Bucknell shot 46.0 percent from the field, despite a 9-for-31 showing from the 3-point arc. N.C. State shot 45.8 percent, including 52.9 percent in the second half. The Wolfpack went 7-for-24 from the arc and outscored the Bison 15-3 from the foul line.
N.C. State finished with a 42-33 rebounding edge, including 16-8 on the offensive glass. That led to an 18-9 advantage in second-chance points.
Bucknell will play its next two games at home, starting Sunday against Penn at 2 p.m.
Co-captains Xander Rice and Andrew Funk led the Bison with 14 points apiece. Raleigh native Jake van der Heijden tallied 11, Josh Adoh scored 12, and Andre Screen had 10 points and eight rebounds as all five starters scored in double figures.
Jericole Hellems paced N.C. State with 22 points, freshman Terquavion Smith had 20 in his debut, and Deron Seabron had 18 points and 11 rebounds while sparking the Wolfpack's big second half.
Bucknell led for all but about a minute in the first half, buoyed by a 13-1 start. Adoh hit a corner three on the very first possession of the season. Screen scored in the paint and van der Heijden followed with a 3-pointer for an 8-0 lead.
After an N.C. State free throw, Screen drove the lane uncontested for a dunk, and Rice swished a 3-pointer from the left wing for a stunning 13-1 lead.
After starting 0-for-10 from the field, the Wolfpack crept back in it, pulling within 15-13 on a transition dunk from Hellems, but the Bison answered with another 9-0 spurt. Rice drove the lane twice for buckets, tacking a free throw onto the latter at the under-12 television timeout, and Screen and Funk followed to make it 24-13.
Bucknell went a bit cold in the final four minutes of the half, and N.C. State tied it for the first time on a 3-point pay by Hellems with 1:13 to play. Smith then stole the inbounds pass and tipped in his own miss to give the Wolfpack their first lead at 40-38 with 1:08 left.
The Bison closed the half with a defensive stop and an Alex Timmerman layup with a second to spare, making it a 40-40 game at the break.
Bucknell missed its first four 3-point attempts to start the second half, and the Wolfpack took a 53-48 lead on a layup by Smith. Funk knocked down a transition three to bring the Bison within two, but a corner trey by Hellems and a layup by Seabron pushed the Wolfpack lead to 58-51 and forced a Bucknell timeout.
Seabron scored on penetration four times in about two-and-a-half minutes, helping the Wolfpack open up a double-digit lead. Two more Seabron buckets around the five-minute mark capped a 30-11 stretch and gave N.C. State a commanding 82-63 lead.
"I thought we came out and executed our offense very well, and we had them on their heels early in the game," said head coach Nathan Davis. "Their size and speed caught up to us there in the second half, but overall I was very pleased with the way the guys competed and executed. We have a chance to be very good, but we need to get back to work tomorrow and keep improving with a good Penn team coming into Sojka Pavilion on Sunday."
Bucknell shot 46.0 percent from the field, despite a 9-for-31 showing from the 3-point arc. N.C. State shot 45.8 percent, including 52.9 percent in the second half. The Wolfpack went 7-for-24 from the arc and outscored the Bison 15-3 from the foul line.
N.C. State finished with a 42-33 rebounding edge, including 16-8 on the offensive glass. That led to an 18-9 advantage in second-chance points.
Bucknell will play its next two games at home, starting Sunday against Penn at 2 p.m.
Team Stats
Buck
NCSU
FG%
.460
.458
3FG%
.290
.280
FT%
.750
.750
RB
32
43
TO
17
8
STL
1
13
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
14
FGM
6
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
14
FGM
6
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
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/ Men's Basketball
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/ Men's BasketballF
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