Hammer Time: Wolfpack Basketball pounds Tennessee 83-72

NC State (9-2, 1-0) rebounded from a stunning last second Wofford loss Sunday to beat the Tennessee Volunteers 83-72 at PNC Arena in Raleigh, N.C .

Wolfpack Basketball Played on Turner Network

A much inspired and energetic Wolfpack team pounded the SEC team most of the night while thwarting a few Tennessee (4-4) runs that kept it  close along the way.  The Pack, led by senior guard Ralston Turner, scored a career high 33 points on 9 of 18 shooting and 8 three pointers while helping the Pack to its ninth win of the season.  Turner, who graduated Thursday with degree in Sports Management was on fire and unstoppable for much of the evening.  It was a well-played even performance by a team still in search of consistency and confidence.

Freshman Abdul-Malik Abu played 29 minutes and was very productive in the paint scoring 8 points and 4 rebounds in place of Lennard Freeman who played only 5 minutes.

Tennessee first year coach Donnie Tyndall paid the Wolfpack and awesome compliment when she said, ”Those three guards are probably one of the 10 best backcourts in college basketball, so any one of those three are capable of going off” referring to the trio of Turner, Lacey and Barber.

Tennessee’s leading scorer was Josh Richardson who scored 17.  Kevin Punter and Armani Moore each added 14 points to aid the Volunteers in the loss.

Dec 17, 2014; Raleigh, NC, USA; The North Carolina State Wolfpack bench.  Mandatory Credit: Rob Kinnan-USA TODAY Sports

The attendance for the game at PNC Arena was 15,282.

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QUICK STATS:

Trevor Lacey-  20 points 8 rebounds, 4 assists

Ralston Turner –  33 points, 4 rebounds

Cat Barber – 7 points and 8 assists

BeeJay Anya –  4 rebounds, 3 blocked shots

NOTABLE:

Caleb Martin won ACC Freshman of the Week honors after last Friday’s game against Charleston Southern.  Martin, a 6-6 gaurd form Mocksville, NC scored 17 points and grabbed  7 rebounds in the 86-50 win.

NEXT UP:   West Virginia  

When:  December 20, 2014  in New York, NY @ 9:30pm

TV:  ESPN2