Four days out from the UNCW exhibition, and another clear thing NC State has to clean up from the High Point game is the turnovers and the decisions that led to them.

Moore didn’t sugarcoat it after the 72-53 win. He basically said there were too many turnovers and too many tough, bad decisions, and that those are things they need to fix. The box score backed him up. NC State finished with 12 turnovers. A lot of them came in the exact spots where the team should be living: when they’re getting downhill, attacking gaps, or pushing after a steal or rebound.

The first quarter showed the version they want. They came out with energy, forced some turnovers, and turned those into easy buckets. After that, it got messy. Too often they got too deep in the paint, forced a contested finish, or held the ball instead of kicking it out once the defense collapsed. That’s the kind of stuff that turns a good possession into a nothing one.

Pierre’s night (19 points, 12 boards, five steals, and just one turnover) is probably the example they’re pointing to. She created and finished without giving it away. The rest of the team needs more of that. Still attack, still play fast, but make the simpler play when the help comes.

So the work since High Point is almost certainly focused on those habits: getting the ball out earlier when the defense collapses, cutting down on the forced drives that aren’t really there, and just taking better care of it in transition so those easy buckets don’t turn into empty trips. UNCW will be another chance to see if that’s sticking before the real games start.

Next is “3 Days to UNCW,” which will get into the defensive rotations and pick-and-roll issues Moore also pointed to after the game.