RALEIGH — N.C. State led Georgia Southern by 11 points at the half, so that wasn't the issue for the Wolfpack.

The fact that the Eagles, with no starter taller than 6-foot-7, had eight offensive rebounds, was the reason Wolfpack coach Sidney Lowe lit up his team in the basement of Reynolds Coliseum on Saturday.

The Wolfpack responded with a 75-57 win against the over-matched Eagles, but the halftime message was memorable.

"He ain't the type to scream and have veins pop out of his head, but his voice is real aggressive, so you know when he's [ticked] off," sophomore guard Julius Mays said.

Coming off an emotional win at Marquette, a Big East team, State was sluggish against Georgia Southern, an undersized Southern Conference team. State led 31-20 at the half, but Lowe was not happy.

"I wasn't," Lowe said. "I was disappointed at a couple of things."

The rebounding was one area, and ignoring star forward Tracy Smith was another. Smith took only five field goals in the first half, and no free throws. Georgia Southern's variety of zones flustered State, which played without starting point guard Javier Gonzalez, who suffered a hamstring injury against Marquette on Dec. 5.

"There's something about when people go zone, there's a tendency for guards to not look inside," Lowe said. "We want to play inside-out, and when we do that, good things happen."

Smith, who finished with a game-high 21 points, said there were a few times he had to remind the guards to get him the ball.

"I told Farnold [Degand], I told Julius, and C.J. [Williams] to find me," Smith said.

They did in the second half, when Smith went 7-for-7 from the field and went to the free-throw line four times (making only one, though).

Smith wasn't the only source of offense in the second half, especially after Georgia Southern cut what was a 20-point deficit to a nine-point margin.

The Eagles missed their first seven 3-pointers, but Johntavious Tucker hit from long range at 11:47 to make it 52-43.

Mays and freshman Josh Davis combined to score the Pack's next 12 points, six for each. Mays hit a 3 and then Davis slammed home his first assist from Degand, followed by another high-energy layup and another 3 from Mays.

Mays, starting in place of Gonzalez, finished with 11 points and three 3-pointers. Davis backed up a nine-point effort against Marquette with a season-best 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting. More importantly, in front of a sparse crowd of 4,297, he added juice to the old gym.

"That's my job," said Davis, who also had four rebounds.

Davis did his job well, and his energy was contagious. Smith got in on the dunking act and State was on its way to putting away its seventh win in eight games.

"He's a go-hard player," Smith said of Davis. "He does everything right."

Davis' hustle -- and a blistering 73.1 shooting percentage (19 of 26) in the second half -- were almost enough to make up for the first-half mistakes that irked Lowe.

"When we needed to we picked up our defense and got after it," Lowe said.

N.C. State 75,

Georgia Southern 57

Percentages: FG .400, FT .688. 3-point goals: 2-12, .167 (Hanson 2-4, Rucker 0-1, Baskerville 0-1, Wohlleb 0-1, Drayton III 0-2, Powers 0-3). Team rebounds: 2. Blocked shots: 3 (Troupe 2, Spencer). Turnovers: 8 (Troupe 3, Rucker 2, Baskerville, Powers, Hanson). Steals: 11 (Rucker 6, Wohlleb 2, Baskerville, Hanson, Spencer). Technical fouls: none.

Percentages: FG .647, FT .444. 3-point goals: 5-17, .294 (Mays 3-4, Williams 2-3, Horner 0-1, Howell 0-1, Painter 0-1, Degand 0-3, Wood 0-4). Team rebounds: 4. Blocked shots: 4 (T. Smith 2, Howell, Degand). Turnovers: 15 (Mays 3, Wood 3, Williams 2, Howell 2, Horner 2, Degand 2, Davis). Steals: 6 (Williams 2, Horner, Howell, Degand, T. Smith). Technical fouls: none.

Att.-4,297. Officials-Les Jones, Roger Ayers, Patrick Adams.

jp.giglio@newsobserver.com or 919-829-8938