NC State Takes Care Of Norfolk State, 84-62

Box Score

NC State built a 14-4 lead in the first five minutes of the game, and while Norfolk State managed to rally after switching to a zone defense and bogging down the game, the Pack ended the first half strong and never looked back.

T.J. Warren was a big reason for that, as he scored 21 points on 9-11 shooting. His shooting motion is funky, but it just somehow seems to be the perfect scoring mechanism. Except at the free throw line. There it appears to be a major issue. Still, what an incredible start to the year for this guy, who is hitting 70% of his twos. And he's not just backing guys down in the post and shooting five-footers, obviously. He's also 7-11 from three.

Lorenzo Brown made seven of eight field goal attempts, including a three, and got a much needed confidence booster after some early-season struggles from the field. He was active defensively and picked up several steals, a couple of which led to easy fast break dunks.

Richard Howell, well, what left is there to say. He was once again free of foul trouble and scored 12 points, grabbed 19 rebounds (16 defensive), blocked five shots (!), and dished out five assists. Dude even made all of his free throws.

In contrast to Howell, Calvin Leslie was invisible for large portions of the game, and he finished with just three rebounds in 29 minutes. Scott Wood grabbed four boards in 24 minutes. Part of it probably was the early foul trouble, which sent him to the bench for an extended period in the first half, but he just didn't look particularly interested. But I understand it can be difficult to get up for the Norfolk States of the world.

Jordan Vandenberg was not in uniform for this game; Mark Gottfried said afterward that Big V had "tweaked" a knee. The MRI was negative and he may be available for Stanford on Tuesday. If he isn't, someone light the MegaHorse signal.