As promised, the team played faster and the freshmen trio made quite an impression in the rout at Reynolds Coliseum.
Lorenzo Brown, Ryan Harrow and C.J. Leslie each scored 17 points in the Wolfpack’s final warm-up before the regular season starts on Friday.
“We’ve been waiting for this a long time,” said Harrow, who added a team-best eight assists off the bench. “It’s pretty crazy that we all scored 17 points.”
Not only did the freshman score almost half of NC State’s points, but they also contributed 16 of our 26 assists(Harrow 8, Brown 6) while only committing 5 turnovers(Brown 4, Harrow 1). It was Pfeiffer and the real tests come later in November and December, however there was a noticeable increase in overall talent on the court last night. While the freshman were each outstanding, the veterans didn’t disappoint either. Scott Wood went 4 for 9 from behind the arc to finish with 14 points, Tracy Smith added 17 points, and Richard Howell corralled 10 rebounds. Even C.J. Williams played well in the 2nd half giving the Pack a 6th player in double figures.
Initially Lorenzo Brown’s size, fluidity, skills and athleticism stood as he got off to a quick start with a couple of 3’s and an alley oop dunk. However, Ryan Harrow was near perfect on the night(his 1 turnover was an offensive foul). His ability to penetrate and then score or dish is rare…floaters in traffic, bank shots from tough angles, or passes to open teammates for easy scores. He did it all as he continued to show the type of instincts and ability to read plays before they happen.
Lowe’s team had never once broken the century mark in his previous 4 years at NC State. Here is an interesting stat from Gopack:
A smiling Lowe talked extensively about his team’s up-tempo style, a break from his first four years when the Pack broke the 90-point barrier just two times in 133 regular-season and postseason games.
