NC State runs past Fairfield for a 99-78 win

Fairfield does not waste much time at the offensive end, and for better or worse, that was on display Sunday afternoon. The Stags were forever willing to fire away from wherever, which gave them some scoring spurts but also helped them disappear for long stretches. NC State’s offense was pretty consistent throughout and the Pack pulled away for a 99-78 win thanks to a strong second half.

Terry Henderson led all scorers with 25 points—he was 6-10 from three, and knocked down his first four attempts from deep. NC State weathered Fairfield’s zone defense nicely after some early hiccups. Dennis Smith hit five three-pointers, and Maverick Rowan was 2-5 from outside.

State’s outstanding perimeter effort spoiled what Fairfield wanted to do, and anyway, there were a lot of opportunities to be had in the paint against the Stags’ defense. Omer Yurtseven and Malik Abu thrived with some nice wide-open mid-range looks in the middle of that zone, and when State made a point of getting the ball into the low post, it usually paid off.

Fairfield managed to pull within four early in the second half but this was a thin team spending a lot of energy on token or full-court pressure and that eventually caught up with them. NC State was just relentless at the offensive end, while the Stags were either tired, in foul trouble, or both.

Dennis Smith finished the afternoon with a rather low-key 17-9-5 performance. Abu finished with 14, while Dorn and Yurtseven has 12 apiece. It was a balanced effort, and a glimpse at how good this offense can be, especially with Yurtseven manning the high post.