NC State rolls past Jacksonville 79-43

Updated: Nov 20, 2015, 11:01 pm

RALEIGH, N.C. -- BeeJay Anya swatted seemingly everything that came his way. By the end of the night, he had more blocks than anyone in school history to highlight North Carolina State's blowout victory.

The sophomore finished with 10 blocked shots in the Wolfpack's 79-43 win against Jacksonville on Thursday night, a performance that showed off both his improved conditioning from last year as well as his knack for protecting the rim.

"He's one of those guys that he has long arms but he also has a knack to block your shot," N.C. State coach Mark Gottfried said. "Sometimes he kind of baits you into it. Guys think they can get it off and he almost dares you to try it."

Freshman Caleb Martin added a season-high 15 points for the Wolfpack (3-0), who got off to a sluggish start before taking control and blowing out the cold-shooting Dolphins (1-3). But it was Anya's show that stood out most.

Anya had one first-half possession in which he blocked four straight shots in the lane and had five by halftime. He kept up his frantic pace with four quick blocks in the second half, then set the record with his 10th by erasing Kori Babineaux's drive at the rim with more than 15 minutes left.

The 6-foot-9 forward figures his weight loss -- he's shed about 60 pounds to weigh around 295 -- helped by letting him get off the floor quicker to contest shots and stay in for longer stretches.

"It got to a point in the first half where they didn't drive anymore," Anya said. "I was like, `OK, they're going to stop.' And then they kept on going in there like I was not going to block the shot or something. I mean, I guess they were trying to get me in foul trouble but that wasn't working very well."

Anya finished with one foul in 25 minutes.

"We did not do a very good job of recognizing that, `Hey, they've got a guy in here who's doing a heck of a job -- let's do something different," Jacksonville coach Tony Jasick said.

Anya also had seven points and eight rebounds for the Wolfpack, who ran off 19 straight points in the first half and led 35-12 at halftime.

Josh Adeyeye scored 15 points for the Dolphins, who shot just 4-for-29 (14 percent) in the opening half -- Anya had more blocks than Jacksonville had baskets by that point -- and finished at 13-for-56 (23 percent) for the game.

---

TIP-INS

Jacksonville: The Dolphins closed a stretch of four games in seven days. ... Babineaux and J.R. Holder added eight points.

N.C. State: This was the third of six straight home games to open the schedule for the Wolfpack. ... Thurl Bailey set the old program record of nine blocks in December 1982, then Todd Fuller tied it in January 1995. ... N.C. State shot 42 percent and finished with a 57-27 rebounding advantage that led to 27 second-chance points.

EARLY RETURNS

Martin, a 6-foot-6 guard, had just three points in the first two games but had 12 points on 5-for-8 shooting in the opening half. "It's good to come out there and get comfortable," he said.

FREEMAN'S BOARD WORK

Lennard Freeman added 10 points and 12 rebounds for the Wolfpack. It was his second straight double-figure rebounding effort.

EJECTION

Jacksonville's Antwon Clayton was ejected after being called for a flagrant foul that knocked Des Lee hard to the floor on a drive with 5:25 left and the Wolfpack up 32.

UP NEXT

Jacksonville travels to IPFW on Monday to face Jasick's former team.

N.C. State hosts South Florida on Sunday.

---

Follow Aaron Beard on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/aaronbeardap