Pack Clips Eagles; 87-59

The Wolfpack came out aggressive and simply out athleted the undermanned, undersized Eagles. Brandon Costner led the way with 25 and McCauley and Fells poured in 17 and 15 respectively. Central was quick and small and used that to their advantage as they forced the slippery fingered Pack to another high turnover count (20) with traps and relentless back court pressure. But tonight the name of the game was not turnovers, it was rebounding, where State held a vicious 51-11 advantage. This was not your typical game, as Tracy Smith and Farnold Degand logged a combined total of 8 minutes. That's a big "ouch" as Tracy was our pick to click tonight.
The highlights of the night were the numerous dunks and that we got to finally witness the hype that is Johnny Thomas. We've heard all about his hops and his ability to finish on heads, but never have we seen him turn someone's face to soup as he did tonight. It happened when he caught the ball on the break and went up against an Eagles forward. Thomas absolutely mauled him as he hammered home the dunk, leaving the would-be shot blocker lying on his back wondering what just happened. It was one of many thunderous dunks that the Pack laid upon central, but it was by far worth the price of admission alone.
Although this was a good confidence builder, it was also a step in the wrong direction as far as point guard play goes. State failed to show progress in the turnover category which is not a good thing seeing as the next game is at Virginia Tech who sits at 6th in the ACC.