DJ Funderburk helps NC State top Appalachian State
N.C. State was able to beat Appalachian State on Sunday without C.J. Bryce.
The feisty Mountaineers didn’t make it easy.
Junior forward D.J. Funderburk scored a career-high 22 points to help the Wolfpack top the Mountaineers 72-60 on Sunday afternoon.
It was the final nonconference game of the season for N.C. State (10-3) and first without Bryce, who leads the team in scoring and rebounding.
Bryce got inadvertently hit in the face by teammate Manny Bates during the morning shoot-around on Sunday and is going through the concussion protocol.
“He was a little bit woozy,” N.C. State coach Kevin Keatts said of Bryce, who averages 16.1 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. “We wanted to make sure he was OK.”
Without Bryce, the Wolfpack leaned on Funderburk, who had his way inside. Guards Devon Daniels (18 points, 11 rebounds) and Markell Johnson (12 points, 11 rebounds, six assists) picked up the slack for Bryce to close out the year on a positive note.
Junior guard Justin Forrest led the Mountaineers (8-5) with 25 points. They have been much-improved this season under first-year coach Dustin Kerns.
After going 11-21 last season, they opened this season with a close loss at Michigan (79-71) and have a pair of in-state wins over ECU and Charlotte.
A putback by ASU’s Isaac Johnson cut what was a nine-point N.C. State advantage at the half down to 46-44 at 11:28.
An alley-oop from Johnson to Funderburk at 9:36 gave the Wolfpack a 50-44 lead. The Apps had it back down to 50-48 after a layup by James Lewis at 9:18.
“We knew they were a good team and they were going to compete hard,” said Daniels, who started for the second straight game.
N.C. State went on a 12-1 run to finally take control of the game. Freshman forward Manny Bates had four of his six points during the spurt.
“I thought our guys locked in and finished the game,” Keatts said.
And one
Devon Daniels averages 16.0 points per game when he starts (Georgia Tech, The Citadel and App State) and 10.6 when comes off the bench (the other 10 games).
Lane violation
N.C. State freshman forward Manny Bates was called for a flagrant foul in the second half when ASU’s Isaac Johnson launched into him and tried to dunk over Bates. Bates was correctly called for a personal foul but Johnson was at fault for the contact, making an unwise decision to challenge the significantly bigger Bates and go up for a dunk that was unrealistic.
ICYMI
N.C. State won its 13th straight game against App State. The Mountaineers won the initial meeting between the two schools, during the 1939-40 season, and the Wolfpack has won all of the games since.
Making sense of the numbers
5 Bates blocked five shots but was probably short-changed one or two in the first half.
9 Braxton Beverly made his first two 3-pointers and then missed his final nine attempts. He finished with six points.
This story was originally published December 29, 2019 at 6:04 PM.
