Saint Louis Basketball: 3 takeaways from Billikens big win over NC State

Saint Louis Basketball picked up a big-time 80-69 victory over North Carolina State on Thursday.

NC State seemed to be in control of Thursday’s night contest against Saint Louis Basketball at first, but the second half was a completely different story. Neither team seemed to be able to gain a comfortable advantage in the early going until NC State went on an 8-0 run to help stretch their slim 1 point lead to nine (19-10) with 8:04 remaining.

After Yuri Collins netted two free throws to help Saint Louis trim the Wolfpack’s 25-19 lead to 25-21 (with 3:52 left in the first half), NC State managed to go on a mini 5-0 run, that helped them build their lead back up to nine.

The Wolfpack had a prime opportunity to go into the half with a double-digit lead (after Thomas Allen drilled a three to give the Wolfpack a 35-25 advantage), but the Billikens scored four timely points, that allowed them to go into the half facing a manageable 6-point deficit.

Despite still trailing the Wolfpack in the beginning of the second half, the Billikens continued to keep NC State on their heels, and with 5:53 left to play in half #2, Saint Louis was suddenly able to enjoy a 7-point lead over the Wolfpack (65-58). I am sure that NC State believed that Thomas Allen’s two made free throws would be the start of a late-game run, but the Billikens remained in attack mode for the rest of the contest.

Saint Louis went on a 6-0 run that helped them secure a 71-60 lead with 3:41 remaining, and never allowed the Wolfpack to give them a legitimate scare in the final few minutes. Saint Louis led by as many as 15 in the second half (and in the entire contest), and ultimately earned a quality 80-69 victory over a solid ACC opponent (while improving to 6-0 on the season).

The Wolfpack were without freshman guard, Cam Hayes (their leader in assists), and senior forward, DJ Funderburk, who is averaging 8.3 points and 3.3 rebounds per game this season, and was considering leaving for the NBA Draft after an impressive 2019-20 campaign, but the Billikens do not deserve to have their enormous win downplayed, because the Wolfpack “weren’t at their best”. Saint Louis and NC State stepped on the floor to compete in a basketball game on Thursday night, and the Billikens were the better team, which is really all that needs to be said.

In this article, I want to discuss 3 important things that I took away from Saint Louis’ pivotal 80-69 victory over NC State.