Troy University Athletics
Troy University
1-3,0-0Sun Belt
NC State
4-0,0-0ACC
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Troy | 27 | 35 | 62 |
| NC State | 36 | 45 | 81 |
11/13/2026 10:00:00 PM | Basketball (M)
RALEIGH, N.C. – Troy men's basketball fell to NC State inside the Lenovo Center on Friday evening, 81-62.
Troy (1-3) shot just 34.5% (20-of-58) from the field as the NC State defense stifled the Trojans, forcing them into several late shot-clock situations throughout the evening.
Kerrington Kiel paced Troy with multiple season highs, including 13 points and seven rebounds. Two other Trojans reached double figures: Donovan Oday (12) and Cauã Pacheco (10).
NC State (4-0) secured the wire-to-wire victory behind 15 points and 12 rebounds from Ven-Allen Lubin. Paul McNeil Jr. led all scorers with 16 points while knocking down four triples.
The game opened with both teams scoring on their first possessions, as NC State got on the board before Mobi Ikegwuruka knocked down a pair of free throws. The Wolfpack jumped out to an early 7-2 lead two minutes into the contest.
Caden Diggs knocked down his second 3-pointer of the season to make it 7-5, accounting for Troy's lone field goal in its first seven attempts.
On the other end, NC State opened the game by making its first five shots.
Kiel enjoyed his best showing of the young season, scoring seven of his 13 points in the first half.
Darius Adams knocked down his second 3-pointer of the game to extend NC State's lead to eight coming out of the under-12 media timeout.
Ikegwuruka picked up his third foul at the 4:45 mark, prompting Evan Griffin to enter in his place.
Troy trailed 36-27 at halftime.
Donovan Oday got Troy on the board in the second half, hauling in a rebound and going the length of the floor before converting an and-one layup.
The Wolfpack answered with six straight points courtesy of back-to-back 3-pointers from McNeil.
Troy went 4:49 without a field goal while trying to find its rhythm with both Ikegwuruka and Sam Walters in foul trouble. NC State took advantage, extending its lead to 15 before pushing it to 57-35.
The Trojans responded with their largest run of the game, scoring six straight points in just over a minute. NC State then went 5:56 without a field goal, scoring all six of its points during that stretch from the free-throw line.
Troy knocked down 3-pointers from Oday and Robert Davis Jr., with Oday's triple cutting the deficit to 63-50 with 6:12 to play.
The Wolfpack, however, connected on its next two 3-point attempts, pushing the lead back to 18 and forcing a Troy timeout.
That spurt proved to be enough, as NC State secured the 81-62 victory.
Quotable – Head coach Adam Howard
"NC State is a good team. I like their team, but we need to find a way to keep these margins a little closer. It comes down to being able to rebound the basketball, we've done a good job in the majority of all of our games in not turning it over, but the physicality of these teams at this level and our lack of physicality is pretty concerning at the moment. But give NC State a lot of credit, they shot it well tonight with 11 made threes, but I thought us being able to hold them to 43% from the floor was a positive. We just need to be able to finish defensive possessions."
Notables
- Troy is now 0-1 all-time against NC State.
- Troy held NC State to 43.1% from the field, its lowest shooting percentage of the season. Additionally, the Wolfpack's 33.3% clip from beyond the arc was its lowest of the year.
- Troy shot 73.7% (14-of-19) from the free throw line, its highest percentage from the charity stripe this season.
- Kerrington Kiel tied his career high with five made field goals.
- Cauã Pacheco's five rebounds were a season-high.
- Evan Griffin committed his fifth personal foul with 7:55 remaining in the game, fouling out for the first time in his career. Griffin also registered his first career block in his 13 minutes.
- First year Tucker Wadsworth scored his first career points, knocking down a 3-pointer in the final minute of the game.
- Jayme Kontuniemi played in his first career game. Kontuniemi spent last season with NC State.
Up Next
Troy returns to Trojan Arena on Tuesday night as it hosts CSUN at 6 p.m. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ and available to listen to on the Troy Sports Media Network.
