National Basketball Association
N.C. State 73, Louisiana Tech 65
When: 7:00 PM ET, Tuesday, December 23, 2014
Where: PNC Arena, Raleigh, North Carolina
Officials:
# Tim Comer, # Bill Covington, # Doug Shows
Attendance:
15739
By SportsDirect Inc.
North Carolina State 73, Louisiana Tech 65: Trevor Lacey scored 20 points and the host Wolfpack rallied from 18 points down in the second half to upend the Bulldogs.
Anthony Barber added 17 points and Kyle Washington scored 11 points with 10 rebounds for North Carolina State (10-3), which trailed 50-32 before outscoring the Bulldogs (8-4) 41-15 the rest of the way. The Wolfpack took the lead for keeps on Lacey’s three-point play with 4:26 left.
Alex Hamilton and Raheem Appleby each scored 18 points for Louisiana Tech, which lost for just the third time in its past 10 contests. The Bulldogs shot just 18-of-27 from the free-throw line and did not hit a shot from the field in the final 7:48.
N.C. State missed its first eight shots as the Bulldogs raced to an 8-1 lead, but the Wolfpack drew within 12-10 on Lennard Freeman’s three-point play with 9 ½ minutes left in the first half. Qiydar Davis’ basket a minute later launched a 25-10 Louisiana Tech run, with Hamilton scoring nine points and Appleby adding eight, as the Bulldogs sprinted to a 39-24 lead at intermission, and pushed the advantage to 50-32 with a little more than 14 minutes to play.
That’s where the Wolfpack began their comeback, holding Louisiana Tech without a field goal for almost five minutes in slicing the deficit to 52-50 on Barber’s basket with 9:46 left, and Barber’s driving layup with 5:04 to play slicing the lead to 60-59. Lacey scored inside and was fouled on the next possession, converting the three-point play to give N.C. State its first lead at 62-60, and Barber hit Abdul-Malik Abu for a dunk and a four-point advantage with 3:54 left.
GAME NOTEBOOK: N.C. State shot just 34.6 percent from the field in the first half and committed eight turnovers. … Louisiana Tech dropped to 5-9 against ACC competition, nine days after a narrow 71-69 defeat at Syracuse. … Bulldogs F Michale Kyser, fourth in the nation in blocked shots, finished with four; N.C. State’s Beejay Anya, who ranks fifth in the country, blocked two shots.
Top Game Performances
Louisiana Tech |
|
N.C. State |
Raheem Appleby 18 |
Scoring |
Trevor Lacey 20 |
Kenneth Smith 5 |
Assists |
Anthony Barber 2 |
Erik McCree 9 |
Rebounds |
Kyle Washington 10 |
Alex Hamilton 9 |
Free Throws Made |
Trevor Lacey 7 |
Kenneth Smith 2 |
Steals |
Ralston Turner 2 |
Michale Kyser 4 |
Blocks |
Beejay Anya 2 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
Louisiana Tech
|
65 |
41.5 |
3-12 |
18-27 |
8 |
27 |
5 |
6 |
9 |
N.C. State
|
73 |
43.1 |
4-17 |
19-27 |
6 |
38 |
4 |
4 |
9 |