NC State basketball flexes its depth in a 92-73 nonconference victory against Furman

This wasn’t a game where N.C. State guards Terquavion Smith and Jarkel Joiner were driving the Wolfpack bus and everybody else hitching a ride.

Not that Smith didn’t get his points Tuesday against Furman. The slender sophomore had 24 points as the Pack ran past the Paladins 92-73 at PNC Arena.

This was a game where senior guard Casey Morsell was involved early for the Pack, knocking down shots, finishing with 17 points.

Senior forward Jack Clark was involved early, staying out of foul trouble, hustling, scoring 15 points. On one play, he busted back on defense to make a one-hand snatch of a Furman lead pass for a steal and also did some work on the boards.

And then there was L.J. Thomas, who had a career-high 14 points. Coming off the bench, the 6-2 freshman was in the middle of everything. In one first-half sequence, he had two steals in about 10 seconds and followed up the second with a baseline drive for a score.

“You just have to be ready when your number is called and bring everything you can to the team,” Thomas said. “My role is to be an energy guy, be active.”

A lot of that kind of play was missing Saturday when the Wolfpack (9-3, 0-2 ACC) was beaten 80-73 in an ACC road game at Miami. Joiner had 26 points and Smith 19 in that game as the Pack couldn’t hold on to a lead down the stretch, withering against the Hurricanes’ transition game and losing defensive focus.

“What I was bothered by after the Miami game was a lack of toughness, both physically and mentally,” NCSU coach Kevin Keatts said. “We looked each other in the eye and said, ‘We’re going to get better.’

“I’m proud of my guys’ bounce-back. It was a really good win. L.J. Thomas did a great job. Of course, Terquavion Smith has been fantastic and played some really inspiring basketball so far. It was good to see the ball go in for Jack Clark.”

Joiner was more of a playmaker and floor leader than shooter Tuesday, and did some hard work on defense. The point guard had a quiet 10 points on 3-of-10 shooting and five assists.

Smith was 9-of-17 from the field, draining four 3-pointers and skying for a left-hand dunk in the second half that had the crowd roaring.

The Pack jumped to a 26-10 lead against the Paladins (7-4) behind the shooting of Morsell, whose three-point play provided the 16-point cushion with 11:52 left in the first half. Furman responded with an 11-0 run, hurting the Pack on backdoor cuts for easy layups, before a Clark 3-pointer ended the spurt.

Thomas was soon in the game, creating some havoc for the Paladins. He knocked down a corner 3-pointer in the final minute of the first half, then raced back for his fourth steal of the half as the Pack led 48-29.

Both teams extended their defensive pressure up the floor in the game, looking to be disruptive. Smith was. He jumped high to make a two-hand steal on a Furman pass, setting up Thomas for a layup.

The Pack did a solid job in defending the Paladins’ top two scorers, fifth-year seniors Mike Bothwell and forward Jalen Slawson. Bothwell and Slawson were held to a combined 6-of-19 shooting and 20 points, going 1-for-11 on 3s.

Then again, there were some weak defensive lapses by the Pack, which was caught flat-footed at times against Furman’s halfcourt offense. They were the kind of lapses — players reacting slowly — that could be costly in ACC games but were not Tuesday.

But there were enough good plays, on both ends of the floor, for the Wolfpack, which forced 20 turnovers that it converted into 19 points,

The Pack should soon have another player available: 7-foot-1 Isaiah Miranda, the four-star recruit who has enrolled at NCSU for the second semester. Miranda was at his first game Tuesday, watching from the bench along with Dusan Mahorcic, who is sidelined indefinitely after knee surgery.

Keatts said he was not sure when Miranda would play. The Pack faces Vanderbilt on Saturday in Chicago in the Legends of Basketball Showcase.

“He’s a talented young man, but I want everybody to remember he’s a high-school kid coming in to a program that’s already been going for a while,” Keatts said.