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LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- For a few moments, the drama involving who's getting the minutes and who's getting the ball took a back seat.

The main issue became a lot simpler: How was N.C. State going to win this game?

Avoiding a repeat of the New Orleans debacle as well as two days of meaningless basketball, the Wolfpack solved some internal issues -- at least temporarily -- and solved Rider's Jason Thompson for a 72-63 victory in the opening round of the Old Spice Classic on Thursday afternoon at Disney Sports Complex.

N.C. State (2-1) faces South Carolina in a semifinal game at 12:30 p.m. today. The Gamecocks got a 30-point effort from Devan Downey in a 74-67 win over Penn State.

After a first half when Wolfpack players forced shots and never developed a rhythm, N.C. State settled down and did what it does best:

• Hit the outside shot. N.C. State missed all seven 3-point attempts in the first half, then shot 5-for-6 from long range in the second half.

• Play strong defense. Thompson finished with a double-double of 24 points and 15 rebounds, but Rider (2-2) shot just 36 percent from the floor.

• Balance the scoring. Four Wolfpack players scored in double figures, led by Courtney Fells' 18 points.

"We didn't care who was scoring, we just wanted to win," said Fells, whose efforts were crucial to the Wolfpack erasing a nine-point first-half deficit. "If we went out thinking about all that stuff, the same situation against New Orleans was going to happen again. If we put the little things before the big picture, we're not going to win this tournament."

The victory was exactly what Wolfpack coach Sidney Lowe wanted to see.

"I saw what I thought all along: There's a lot of pride here, there's a lot of character here and they want to win," Lowe said. "We played with a lot of energy ... sometimes too much energy because we wanted to go out and redeem ourselves."

For those still tracking the minutes, Lowe primarily used a six-man rotation that consumed 184 of the 200 minutes.

And, yes, 6-foot-10 junior Ben McCauley started -- because 6-9 freshman J.J. Hickson broke a team policy, according to Lowe.

"We have enough people to go 10 deep, but it doesn't mean we have to go 10 deep," Lowe said. "I didn't like the matchup situations, and I liked what we had going."

Hickson had another strong showing, scoring 13 points on 5-for-6 shooting. But three second-half turnovers by the freshman prompted Lowe to use McCauley (six points in 23 minutes) the final 3:08 with the Wolfpack holding a 64-57 lead.

"I liked Ben's energy and experience," said Lowe, who later said he hadn't decided whether Hickson or McCauley would start today. "His was a nice, solid ballgame for us."

Brandon Costner scored 11 points and Gavin Grant had 10 for the Wolfpack, who shot 57.9 percent from the field in the second half.

Despite its poor first half, N.C. State trailed just 31-28 at halftime.

"We were executing our stuff, we just weren't hitting open shots," Lowe said. "Sometimes we rushed and tried to create stuff that wasn't there. We slowed down in the second."