DJ Horne connected on six 3-pointers on the way to a season-high 22 points as North Carolina State defeated visiting UT Martin 81-67 on Tuesday night at Raleigh, N.C.
Horne hit four 3s during a second-half run that allowed the Wolfpack to end up with a comfortable margin. He was 6-for-10 on 3-point attempts.
Dennis Parker Jr. had 14 points and 10 rebounds, Jayden Taylor had 11 of his 13 points in the opening half and DJ Burns Jr. posted 10 points and 12 rebounds as N.C. State won while shooting 44.3 percent from the field.
N.C. State (7-2) used a 15-2 spurt after the midway mark of the second half to pull away from what had been a shaky lead at times.
The Wolfpack has won 48 of 50 regular-season nonconference home games under coach Kevin Keatts.
Jacob Crews scored 14 of his 20 points in the first half for UT Martin (6-5). Jordan Sears also scored 20 points and KK Curry finished with 14 for the Skyhawks, who didn’t receive any points from their bench players.
UT Martin shot 39.7 percent from the field and was charged with 13 turnovers.
The Wolfpack’s lead was 51-46 with less than 14 minutes to play.
Horne hit a pair of 3-pointers in a 21-second span to push N.C. State to a 61-50 edge. Later, he made two more during a 50-second stretch, putting the Wolfpack up 71-54. Parker scored the game’s next five points.
Horne scored all his second-half points on 3-pointers. He had 10 points in the first half.
UT Martin made the score look more respectable by scoring the last seven points.
N.C. State had trouble shaking free from UT Martin in the first half before holding a 46-35 lead at the break. Both teams shot 6-for-13 on 3-pointers in the first half.
This was the first meeting between the teams.
–Field Level Media