Casey Morsell helps NC State pull away from Saint Louis

Casey Morsell scored 21 points to help North Carolina State get an 82-70 win over visiting Saint Louis on Wednesday night in Raleigh, N.C.

Morsell and DJ Horne (18 points) each shot 4-of-6 from 3-point range to lead the Wolfpack (8-3). DJ Burns Jr. added 13 points and three assists, while Ben Middlebrooks had nine points and four rebounds.

Saint Louis (7-6) was powered by Bradley Ezewiro's 18 points and nine rebounds. Tim Dalger chipped in 17 points.

NC State trailed by three points entering the second half but used an 8-2 run -- punctuated by back-to-back 3-pointers from Morsell and Horne -- to take a three-point lead. Saint Louis responded with a 10-2 run to take a five-point lead, but again NC State fired back with an 18-5 run to take an eight-point lead with a little more than nine minutes to play. That span featured three 3-pointers from Horne and six points from Burns.

The Wolfpack went on to lead by as many as 19 points and kept the Billikens at arms' length for the remainder of the contest.

The Wolfpack's ability to stifle the Billikens' efforts from behind the arc was key to the victory. Saint Louis entered this game as the 16th-best 3-point shooting team in the nation, making 39.2 percent of their deep shots. NC State held the Billikens to 1-of-12 from 3-point ranger, an 8.3 percent clip. The Wolfpack shot 9-of-25 from the arc and 50 percent from the floor.

NC State's defense also forced Saint Louis into 18 turnovers, flipping them into 29 points. Meanwhile, the Billikens scored just two points off six turnovers by the Wolfpack.

Next up for NC State is its final nonconference game of the season, on Saturday at home against a winless Detroit Mercy team.