BC-BKC--Notre Dame-NC State,354

NC State follows week off with 76-58 win vs. Notre Dame

Eds: APNewsNow. N.C. State 76, Notre Dame 58. Will be updated.

Torin Dorn scored 21 points and North Carolina State shot 50 percent to beat Notre Dame 76-58. Freshman Braxton Beverly added 16 points for the Wolfpack (16-7, 6-4 Atlantic Coast Conference). N.C. State led by as many as 30 points. Notre Dame (13-10, 3-7) lost its seventh straight game.

By AARON BEARD

AP Basketball Writer

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Torin Dorn scored 21 points and North Carolina State shot 50 percent to beat Notre Dame 76-58 on Saturday.

Freshman Braxton Beverly added 16 points for the Wolfpack (16-7, 6-4 Atlantic Coast Conference). N.C. State was coming off an overtime win at rival North Carolina followed by a weeklong break, yet there was no sign of a hangover, rust or anything else.

Instead, Dorn, Beverly and the rest of their Wolfpack teammates were simply dominant.

The Wolfpack claimed a 38-26 rebounding advantage and scored 21 points off turnovers. It amounted to a complete reversal of a 30-point loss to Notre Dame exactly one month earlier, down to the symmetry of N.C. State leading by 30 with 8½ minutes left.

Matt Farrell scored 16 points for the Fighting Irish (13-10, 3-7) after missing the past two games with a lingering ankle injury. Notre Dame has lost seven straight games.

BIG PICTURE

Notre Dame: The Irish have been just trying to stay afloat with preseason Associated Press All-American Bonzie Colson roughly halfway through a projected eight-week recovery from a broken left foot. But they haven't won a game in nearly a month. Worse, while the first five losses were all by single-digit margins, the past two — both in the state of North Carolina with Tuesday's 22-point loss at Duke — have ended with ugly scores.

N.C. State: N.C. State started the game with a crisp 9-0 burst and never let up, playing with a free-flowing confidence that staked the Wolfpack to a 19-point lead before halftime. It's a good sign for a team trying to play its way into NCAA Tournament contention, both for the turnaround from the 88-58 road loss to the Irish and the maturity to follow an emotional rivalry win and week off with this type of response.

UP NEXT

Notre Dame: The Fighting Irish host Boston College on Tuesday night.

N.C. State: Virginia Tech hosts the Wolfpack on Wednesday night in another matchup of teams trying to improve their NCAA Tournament chances.

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