NC State basketball walloped by Clemson, 96-71
For all the excitement NC State basketball has delivered this season, Saturday against Clemson in the home finale at PNC Arena in Raleigh for the Wolfpack was a rare clunker. For the first time this year, NC State was thoroughly dominated, getting crushed by a red-hot shooting Tigers team that spent most of the afternoon shooting over 60 percent from the field.
Clemson made 10 of 14 shots to start the game, including 5 of 6 threes, to open up a 28-13 lead when NC State basketball coach Kevin Keatts called a timeout. By that point, Keatts had already been assessed a technical foul, one of the initial signs of a frustrating afternoon looming for the Wolfpack.
Even a court side fan would be ejected from his seat during the second half.
While officiating may have led to that particular fan’s frustration, Clemson’s shooting was the primary culprit for the Wolfpack’s struggles.
The Tigers shot 59.6 percent for the game and made 10 of 19 threes. At one point their lead ballooned to 30 points in the second half after going into the locker room on a 7-0 run to take a 54-29 halftime advantage.
Clemson then made its first five shot attempts of the second half to continue expanding that lead.
While Clemson seemingly could not miss, NC State’s shots were not falling. The Pack made just 12 of 32 first half shots, or 37.5 percent, compared to Clemson’s 18 of 29, or 62.1 percent.
For the game, NC State made just 8 of 24 three-pointers. Star guards Jarkel Joiner, honored before the game in Senior Day ceremonies, and Terquavion Smith, were a combined 7 of 29 from the field and just 5 of 17 on threes.
NC State was led by fifth-year senior center D.J. Burns Jr., who made 11 of 18 shots from the field for 24 points and added 6 rebounds.
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Clemson super senior guard Brevin Galloway made 7 of 9 shots, including 4 of 5 threes, and all 10 of his free throw attempts for a game-high 28 points. Junior forward P.J. Hall added 20 points on 9-of-11 shooting, including 2 of 3 on threes.
Super senior forward Hunter Tyson contributed a double-double of 12 points (4-of-7 shooting, including 2 of 4 on threes) and 11 rebounds.
The Wolfpack played the game without fifth-year senior forward Jack Clark, who missed the contest after taking a hard fall following a dunk during NC State’s home win over Wake Forest Wednesday evening.
With the defeat, NC State basketball falls to 22-8 overall and 12-7 in the ACC, and the chances of having a double bye at the ACC Tournament took a catastrophic hit. Clemson completes a season sweep of the Pack and improved to 21-8 and 13-5 in the league.
The Wolfpack will conclude the regular season Tuesday evening at Duke in Durham. The game is set for a 7 p.m. tipoff on ESPN.
