Pack Overcomes Tryptophan-Induced Coma to Clobber Colonels

In the first half, N.C. State had difficulty figuring out Eastern Kentucky's constantly changing defenses, particularly a 2-3 zone that forced the Pack to settle for too many long jump shots, but the Pack figured things out with a vengeance in the second half. After getting down by as many as 10 and trailing by six at the break, the Pack outscored the Colonels 54-29 after intermission en route to a comfortable 75-56 win over a team that won 25 games a year ago.

T.J. Warren led the comeback with 30 points, one off his career high, and added 11 rebounds. His performance was emblematic of the team's as a whole, as he made just one of his first six shots. At one point the Pack (4-2) were just 5-for-20 from the floor, including a trio of Ralston Turner airballs, and were hovering in the sixties in offensive efficiency for most of the first half, but the team made 25 of its final 40 shots to finish the game at an even 50% from the floor and easily break the 100-mark in efficiency.

Jordan Vandenberg showed that his solid debut against Florida Gulf Coast was not a fluke, scoring a career high 14 points while jacking his teammates up with his emotional play. After he was mugged but got no call from the officials, he responded by swatting a shot from the dude who mugged him, a block that ignited a Desmond Lee behind the back pass for a Turner tomahawk jam that put the game away. Vandy added eight rebounds and had two blocks.

Cat Barber was the third member of the Pack to reach double figures, finishing with 12 points on 6-for-9 shooting. He also had a team-high five assists. Though Tyler Lewis struggled again defensively, he did have six first-half points at a time in the game where no one else could get anything going offensively, and Lewis's time on the floor seemed to help Barber settle down and figure how to attack the defense.

Glenn Cosey had a team-high 14 points for the Colonels (6-2), though he did it on 5-for-14 heaving. The Colonels shot just 37.9% from the floor and, after not coughing the ball up until the 6:40 mark of the first half, actually ended up with more turnovers than the Pack (11 to 10). The Pack figuring out how to get good shots against the zone was a huge factor in the win, but the team's solid field goal defense throughout kept them in the game.

State also benefited from a decided advantage on the glass, grabbing nearly two out of five of their misses while limiting the Colonels to second helpings on just 22.5% of their misses. The Pack also made 10 of 12 from the charity stripe in the second half after once again struggling at the stripe (3-for-7) early on. Warren, who entered the game shooting just 57.1% from the line, was a perfect 9-for-9.

N.C. State takes the floor again Wednesday, when it hosts Northwestern in the ACC-B1G Challenge.

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