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One week after a disappointing loss to No. 22 Davidson, N.C. State was finally able to get back on the court and take out its frustrations, as the Wolfpack pummeled Winston-Salem State 74-46 in a game played in Reynolds Coliseum.

The Wolfpack (5-1), freed from final exams, put this game away early. Simon Harris, making his first start for the injured Courtney Fells, scored two early buckets and combined with Ben McCauley for 10 points to give State a 16-5 lead.

"Simon really played well with Courtney being out," McCauley said. "He showed you what he's made of. He played really well. That's the way Simon's been playing all year. Even in practice and the first couple of games where he didn't play as many minutes. That's the way he plays, and if Courtney stays out he's going to be in there ready to go."

McCauley finished with 14 points and nine rebounds, both game highs, and was one of three scorers in double digits for the Wolfpack.

Trevor Ferguson, who also got a starting nod as coach Lowe wanted more experience on the floor, added 12 points and Dennis Horner chipped in with 11.

State had a scary moment early, when Brandon Costner left the game with a bloody face. Costner recovered a block of his own shot and in the ensuing scramble for the ball suffered a cut over his right eye.

Costner returned later in the half but saw limited action in the second period because of dizziness.

But injuries to starters just gave more minutes to the Wolfpack's bench, which came up with a big effort.

A unit featuring Julius Mays, C.J. Williams, Johnny Thomas, Horner and Tracy Smith helped State to a 13-4 run, which started on a follow basket by Thomas for his first points as a member of the Pack.

Thomas, the former Greensboro Day star who sat out last year with a knee injury, finished with four points and seven rebounds in 18 minutes.

"He's exactly what you see, what you think about him, in terms of his energy, his effort, his athleticism," Lowe said of Thomas.

"You saw him go in there and getting offensive rebounds, jumping over people, that's who he is. He just plays hard. I thought he played very well. He said his knee felt very good and that's a good thing for us to have him in there and get him some minutes."

State took a 40-20 lead into halftime, thanks to hitting 63 percent (17-27) of its shots from the floor. Meanwhile, Winston-Salem State (1-7) hit just 26.5 percent from the field.

"I'm very disappointed in our play tonight," Rams coach Bobby Collins said. "We didn't have the intensity or execution on plays that we needed to make to win the game. We didn't take advantage of second-chance places and our overall execution was poor."

WINSTON-SALEM STATE (1-7)

FG FT Reb

Min M-A M-A O-T A PF PTS

Fisher 30 3-12 0-3 0-3 2 1 7

Gibson 25 1-7 0-0 1-2 0 1 2

Tucker 27 3-9 0-0 0-0 2 3 7

Davis 23 3-3 0-0 0-0 0 4 6

Alcius 15 1-4 0-0 2-5 0 2 2

Monger 16 1-5 0-0 4-5 1 3 2

McClinton 4 1-4 0-0 0-1 0 1 2

Durham 26 2-11 8-10 1-4 1 0 12

Bonner 4 0-0 0-0 0-1 0 0 0

Hobbs 14 1-3 0-0 1-2 1 1 2

Slocum 4 0-2 0-0 0-1 0 0 0

Morris 8 1-2 0-0 1-1 1 1 2

Murphy-Long 4 1-2 0-0 1-1 0 0 2

Totals 200 18-64 8-13 13-30 8 17 46

Percentages: FG .281, FT .615.

3-Point Goals: 2-18, .111 (Tucker 1-5, Fisher 1-5, Hobbs 0-1, McClinton 0-1, Monger 0-1, Alcius 0-2, Durham 0-3).

Team Rebounds: 4.

Blocked Shots: 2 (Hobbs, Durham).

Turnovers: 9 (Tucker 3, Monger 2, Fisher 2, Alcius, McClinton).

Steals: 9 (Fisher 3, Tucker 2, Monger, Gibson, McClinton, Davis).

Technical Fouls: None.

N.C. STATE (5-1)

FG FT Reb

Min M-A M-A O-T A PF PTS

Harris 20 3-3 0-0 1-6 0 4 6

Gonzalez 26 2-3 2-2 1-5 4 1 7

Ferguson 24 4-6 1-1 0-0 3 0 12

Costner 15 2-6 0-0 1-3 3 1 5

McCauley 25 6-10 2-2 1-9 4 1 14

Kufuor 2 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Greenway 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Williams 16 2-3 0-0 0-2 1 0 4

KSmith 2 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

TSmith 13 3-5 1-2 1-3 1 1 7

Mays 12 1-3 2-2 1-2 2 3 4

Thomas 18 1-3 2-3 2-7 2 2 4

Horner 23 4-8 2-2 1-7 2 1 11

Obi-Gwacham 2 0-1 0-0 1-1 0 0 0

Totals 200 28-54 12-14 10-47 22 14 74

Percentages: FG .519, FT .857.

3-Point Goals: 6-17, .353 (Ferguson 3-5, Gonzalez 1-2, Costner 1-4, Horner 1-5, Thomas 0-1).

Team Rebounds: 2.

Blocked Shots: 5 (Horner 2, Obi-Gwacham, Thomas, Costner).

Turnovers: 16 (Gonzalez 5, Mays 4, Costner 3, Harris 2, T.Smith, Ferguson).

Steals: 4 (Mays 2, Costner, T.Smith).

Technical fouls: None.

Winston-Salem 20 26 -- 46

N.C. State 40 34 -- 74

A--5,384. Officials--Bernard Clinton, Mike Eades, Tony Dawkins.