RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- Damon Thornton doubled his scoring output of the previous game in only five minutes for North Carolina State (No. 25 ESPN/USA Today, No. 21 AP) on Saturday.

It was fairly easy, since he only needed two baskets to double the two points he managed in N.C. State's loss to Clemson. He didn't stop at four on Saturday, getting 23 in the Wolfpack's 79-68 victory over Arizona State.

Thornton, who made his second basket at 15:17 in the first half, also made a strong statement inside as well.

"He certainly had a great game with 23 points, eight rebounds, three blocks and a steal," N.C. State coach Herb Sendek said. "He was an iron man today, and I'm just glad he plays for us."

Thornton was held to just two points on Thursday in the Wolfpack's 59-42 loss at Clemson, N.C. State's worst game of the season.

Thornton scored four points during an 11-4 run that gave the Wolfpack (14-4) a 69-58 lead with 5:25 left. The Sun Devils (11-8) were held without a basket for four minutes and scored only eight points in the final four minutes.

"If it's open, like it was today, we want to take advantage of our size," Thornton said. "When I got the ball inside, I felt like they couldn't stop me."

Damien Wilkins added 15, Justin Gainey 13 and Anthony Grundy 10 for N.C. State, which remained undefeated at home.

Eddie House led Arizona State with 31 while Chad Prewitt scored 15 and Awvee Storey grabbed 10 rebounds. The Sun Devils lost their fourth in a row. House has nine 30-point games in his career. In the last three games, Arizona State has been held to 37 percent shooting from the field.

"We ended up with a loss, so the 31 points were a wash," House said. "Obviously 31 points was not enough."

N.C. State had just one day to prepare for Arizona State because the game was postponed from Wednesday due to the snowstorm in North Carolina.

"We've really had a challenging week and certainly our performance Thursday night left a sour taste in our mouth," Sendek said. "Our team persevered in all of that and came up with great defense in the second half."

The lead alternated in the first 10 minutes of the second half. N.C. State took a 58-54 lead on Gainey's 3-pointer with 10:20 left.

House hit three jumpers and Kyle Dodd and Tanner Shell each made a 3-pointer to give the Sun Devils a 40-37 lead at halftime.

"We had a lead until late in the game, and then they tightened up on their defense," Arizona State coach Rob Evans said.