Gameday Live Blog/Open Thread: State vs. Mount Olive

Follow along and discuss today's exhibition basketball game below ...

It's the debut of NC State's 2019-20 basketball team this afternoon at PNC Arena, where the Wolfpack takes on Mount Olive in an exhibition game.

The Wolfpack will go with Markell Johnson, C.J. Bryce, Manny Bates, Devon Daniels and Jericole Hellems to start. ...

FIRST HALF

Talked with Mount Olive AD Jeff Eisen before the game and he said his goal for the game was to have the Trojans score first so they could get a photo of the scoreboard with them ahead. He didn't get his wish. Daniels scores on a right wing jumper to get things off and running for State ...

There's Manny Bates' first basketball (though unofficial) in a Wolfpack uniform. Easy finish on a nice lob from Johnson ... Followed shortly thereafter by Bates' first blocked shot, an emphatic swat of a shot by UMO's Cameron Robinson. ...

Bates is wearing some kind of harness on both shoulders as a precaution. He's missed most of the past two seasons with two shoulder surgeries ...

State scores the first 13 points before Robinson finally gets the Trojans on the board ....

Grad transfer Danny Dixon makes his first appearance, spelling Bates, who has four early points. ...

The new scoreboard here at PNC is spectacular. It's like a giant HD spaceship hanging over the court. And just in case you're sitting too low in the stands to get a good look, there's a smaller screen mounted on the underside of the board so you don't miss anything. ...

Johnson gets caught in a trap in the backcourt. Wolfpack still up 26-11, but coach Kevin Keatts was on his players about keeping their intensity up during the break ...

And the Wolfpack immediately scores the next five points ... a backdoor layup from Andree and Johnson's second trey of the game ...

Bates with another block, this one on an attempted dunk by Darius Spragley ... And then a third block, this time on a baseline jumper. The kid has long arms and appears to know how to disrupt shots without fouling. ...

Hellems comes to the bench and puts what appears to be an ice pack on his right shoulder ... But now he's back into the game, so he must be okay ...

It's 46-17 Wolfpack with 5:29 still left in the half ...

Hellems is back out and this time he's down at the end of the bench with a trainer. Something's definitely amiss ... They're heading back to the locker room now ...

Freshman forward Max Farthing makes his first appearance on the court with 1:33 left in th half ... And now fellow freshman Chase Graham gets in for the first time 20 seconds later ...

Just caught a glimpse of Hellems and the trainer backstage heading toward the State locker room. They may have been in the x-ray room. Will check on that at halftime ...

HALFTIME

They had a kids' Halloween costume parade at halftime and folks, it doesn't get any cuter than this ...

And then there was the "Wolfpup Slam Dunk Contest" which, in all honesty, featured more actual dunks than the team's contest last week at Primetime with the Pack!

SECOND HALF

Andree starts the second half in place of Hellems, who won't return because of a shoulder injury, and promptly hits his first 3 of the game ... And then follows that up with another from exactly the same spot on the right wing, prompting a Mount Olive timeout. ...

It's getting kind of sloppy here in the second half .... After shooting 57.1 percent from the floor in the first 20 minutes, State is just 8 of 18 (44.4 percent) here in the first 10 minutes of this period. And that includes Andree's back-to-back threes to start the half ...

The Wolfpack's bench is already much shorter than expected. In addition to Hellems' injury today and junior guard Blake Harris leaving the team earlier this week, freshman Dereon Seabron -- who won the team's slam dunk contest at last week's Primetime with the Pack -- is in street clothes with his right foot in a boot. And big man D.J. Funderburk is still under an indefinite suspension. ...

Bates is up to 10 points, four rebounds and two blocks (although he appeared to have at least two more that aren't on the score sheet). By far the most positive aspect for the Wolfpack in this game ...

Markell Johnson leads both teams with 24 points and is 3 for 6 from 3 ... he's also been to the free throw line 12 times. Exactly what you'd expect from him and what the Wolfpack needs on a regular basis. ...

All five players that started the second half for State have scored in double figures ...

Mount Olive has 11 3-pointers for the game and eight in the second half. The Trojans have also outscored the Wolfpack 40-34 over the first 15 minutes of the second half. Keatts isnt going to like that. ...

And now Keatts calls a timeout to perhaps address that with his players ...

Chase Graham's baseline jumper gets State to the 100-point mark ...

Bryce and Andree still in the game. Not sure why ... Wolfpack up 102-71 with 2 1/2 to go ...

Chase Graham's baseline jumper gets State to the 100-point mark ...

Keatts calls off the dogs and lets the clock run out ... Final: State 113, Mount Olive 73