Field Level Media
Jan 15, 2020
DJ Funderburk scored 19 points as North Carolina State pulled away for an 80-63 victory against visiting Miami on Wednesday night in Raleigh, N.C.
Devon Daniels added 15 points, Jericole Hellems poured in 11 and Markell Johnson had 10 for the Wolfpack.
Hellems scored seven points in a two-minute span of the second half to help the Wolfpack extend the margin. Funderburk was only 5 for 12 from the floor, but he made eight free throws and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.
NC State (12-5, 3-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) continued a trend in conference play by following each loss with a victory.
The Wolfpack welcomed the return of senior guard C.J. Bryce, the team's top scorer who missed the past four games after entering the concussion protocol. He scored six points -- all in the second half - off the bench.
Chris Lykes led Miami (10-6, 2-4), which had won in its past two visit to Raleigh, with 20 points. Dejan Vasiljevic and Rodney Miller Jr. provided 16 points apiece.
The Hurricanes were charged with 15 turnovers, often preventing them from going on any sort of run. They benefited from 20-for-25 free-throw shooting, but that wasn't enough to keep them close as they made only 3 of 16 shots from 3-point range. Miami was credited with only three assists.
NC State, which was coming off a season-low 31.9 percent shooting in Saturday's loss at Virginia Tech, shot 47.5 percent from the field, with seven different players hitting at least one 3-point shot. The Wolfpack added to the scoring chances by pulling in 13 offensive rebounds.
After not holding a lead in the first 16 minutes, NC State scored the final 10 points of the first half, sparked by 3-pointers from Braxton Beverly and Hellems.
Miami went scoreless across the final 3:50 of the first half, and without a field goal for the last 5-plus minutes. The Hurricanes shot 29.6 percent (8 for 27) from the field in the first half.
--Field Level Media