NC State demolishes Austin Peay, 99-50

As far as first impressions go, that was about as good as it gets. Not just a win, but a win that offered plenty to feel optimistic about. Terquavion Smith did the standard Terquavion Smith things, all of the transfers looked solid, and the Wolfpack appears to have a lot more versatility in scoring options than it did a year ago.

State stepped on the gas early against Austin Peay and did not look back. The guys moved the ball well at the offensive end and executed on the opportunities that movement created, while the energy at the defensive end was excellent. The result was a 20-point lead in barely nine minutes of game action, and from there a thorough beating of the Governors.

Jarkel Joiner looked the part of a difference-maker at the point, and DJ Burns got cooking almost immediately after coming off the bench. The pressure to carry the offense was lifted from Baby T, confidence grew, and they really got to rolling.

T still scored 26, of course. Sometimes it feels like he can do that with his eyes closed. He finished 9-15 from the field, 3-7 from three. Joiner was 7-10 and scored 18, Jack Clark added 15, and Burns was 5-6 from the floor, scoring 10 and grabbing nine boards in 18 minutes. Dusan Mahorcic was 4-4 from the field and nabbed five boards. Casey Morsell also finished in double figures with 10.

As a team, State made over 76% of its two-point attempts. State’s best two-point shooting performance last season was 64% against UVA in Raleigh. So this was an order of magnitude better than anything we saw last year.

It’s only one game, and against a bad team at that, but the Pack also was only expected to win this game by around 14 points, not 49. That result does say something.

Great start, lots to like. The shots aren’t always going to fall like this, but if these guys continue to bring the effort we saw, they’re going to be solid.