Freshman Ryan Harrow scored a season-high 20 points to help North Carolina State beat South Carolina Upstate 79-60 on Saturday.
Freshman Lorenzo Brown also had a season-high with 17 points for the Wolfpack (5-3), who snapped a two-game skid with a relatively easy win in its annual return to Reynolds Coliseum. N.C. State played at Reynolds for 50 years before moving to the RBC Center in 1999, though the Wolfpack has won all 10 regular-season or NIT games at its former home since.
N.C. State led just 28-20 late in the first half before going on a 21-6 run that gave it a comfortable margin, with Brown scoring nine points during the spurt.
The Wolfpack led by as many as 25 points after the break.
Babatunde Olumuyiwa scored 14 points to lead the Spartans (2-7).
N.C. State suffered a humbling 39-point loss at Wisconsin in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge but played close in a loss at eighth-ranked Syracuse last weekend before taking last week off for exams. That was part of a challenging early schedule that also included a loss to Georgetown - now ranked ninth - while returning all-ACC performer Tracy Smith recovers from knee surgery.
Smith was expected to be out about three weeks, though he didn't make it back for his projected return against the Spartans and sat on the bench in street clothes.
N.C. State looked like it had suffered another setback when starting point guard Javi Gonzalez came up limping after hurting his right leg on an early drive into the lane. As he hobbled to the bench, Harrow entered the game and made an immediate impact with 10 first-half points while picking up the pace on the Wolfpack's offense.
Brown got the run started, soaring airborne to grab the loose ball after DeShawn Painter's miss and slam it home. Wood followed with a 3, then freshman C.J. Leslie (13 points) slammed home a loose rebound just before halftime to make it 35-22 at the break.
Early in the second half, Wood assisted on a 3 from Brown, then drained his own 3 to keep the spurt going. Brown followed with a tip-in and a transition dunk off a feed from Leslie before Painter capped the run with a hook shot in the lane, making it 49-26 with 14:35 left.
Gonzalez returned to the game and played sparingly the rest of the way. N.C. State also lost reserve 7-foot-1 center Jordan Vandenberg to an apparent left ankle injury with 4:35 left in the game.
