BOXSCORE

RALEIGH, N.C. – Dennis Smith, Jr. proved why he's billed as one of the best point guards in the NCAA and a possible NBA Lottery pick as the freshman scored 23 points and dished out six assists in 20 minutes of play to guide North Carolina State to an 89-57 win over McNeese Thursday night.
 
Smith, Jr. hit 9 of his 12 shots from the field including 4 of 5 from 3-point range as the Wolfpack (10-2) won for the fifth straight time. He was one of four NCST players to score in double-digits.
 
"He's every bit as good as he's billed," said McNeese head coach Dave Simmons whose team drops to 3-8 on the year while wrapping up its non-conference portion of the schedule. "They are a very good basketball team. This is the kind of basketball that we're striving to get to play. It was a good experience for us and played against some good, big and strong players. They're very skilled but we kept fighting."
 
McNeese missed 7 of its first three shots of the games and 7 of its last eight of the first half. In between that, the Cowboys hit 7 of 14 to keep the Wolfpack from pulling too far ahead in the first 20 minutes and take a 49-28 lead at the break.
 
Jamaya Burr scored half of his team-high 14 points in the first half while Richard Laku, who finished with a career-high 11 points, scored eight of those in the second half.
 
"It was good to see Laku knock some shots down," said Simmons. "Also, Lance Potier gave his heart and soul out there."
 
Potier came up big on the defensive end by taking four charges in the game as the Cowboys forced NCST into 16 turnovers, three more than McNeese.
 
LaBarrius Hill added 10 points and six rebounds to go along with a career-high four blocked shots.
 
"The kids fought hard and never backed down," said Simmons. "I think some of the young guys may have gotten a little stage fright in the first half playing against those guys and in a venue like this, but when we settled down we did ok."
 
The Wolfpack scored the first four points of the second half but a 3 by James Harvey cut the deficit back to 20 points at 53-33 with 17:22 to play.
 
NCST followed with an 11-1 run highlighted by a Smith steal and dunk as the Wolfpack lead grew to 64-34 with 14:29 to play.
 
The lead grew to as many as 38 points following two Shaun Kirk free throws with 11:04 to play when McNeese put together an 11-0 run behind back-to-back 3-pointers by Laku and the lead was cut to 77-50 with 6:16 left.
 
"I think the main thing is we never quit," said Simmons. "It's tough to have to play teams like this but it also gets us ready for our conference season. We won't be seeing guys like this in our league."
 
McNeese shot just 32 percent for the game (20-63) and was 6 of 26 from 3-point range. The Cowboys struggled late at the free throw line and hit just 11 of 18.
 
NCST connected on 32 of 66 from the field for 49 percent and sank 9 of 19 (47 percent) from long range. Smith and Maverick Rowan, who was second on the team in scoring with 15 points, combined to hit 7 of 12 from 3-point range.
 
Terry Henderson added 11 points for the Wolfpack while Torin Dorn scored 10.
 
McNeese will take the next few days off for Christmas before returning to the practice court to prepare for the Dec. 31 conference opener at Northwestern State.