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NC State basketball falls at Duke in regular season finale, 71-67

MattCarterby:Matt Carter•02/28/23•

TheWolfpacker

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NC State-Duke box score

NC State basketball received another stellar performance from super senior guard Jarkel Joiner, but the supporting cast did not rise to the occasion in a 71-67 loss at Duke on Tuesday evening. Joiner finished with 26 points, making 9 of 18 shots overall and 6 of 12 threes, but the rest of the team was just 2 for 16 beyond the arc.

In the process, the Wolfpack entered into NC State’s first losing streak of the year, dropping the final two contests of the regular season. The Pack will be off this weekend before beginning ACC Tournament in Greensboro, N.C., where NC State will either be a six or seven seed.

During that week off, NC State will focus on getting star sophomore guard Terquavion Smith back on track. Smith was just 2 of 9 shots from the field, not making a basket until the 1:36 left in the contest. Smith was also hit with a controversial technical foul in the first half.

During an inbounds plays with the game tied 17-17 and 8:20 left before halftime, Duke freshman guard Tyrese Proctor fell to the floor. During a media timeout, the officials reviewed the play and decided to assess Smith a technical despite Proctor’s apparent flop to exaggerate the contact from a push from Smith.

That started a 7-0 for Duke over the next 2 minutes that gave the Blue Devils the lead for good. In the second half, Duke extended the advantage to as much as 12 points at 65-53 with 1:47 to go. The Pack though made one last furious push, going on a 11-2 run over the next nearly 1:16 to cut the lead down to three.

However, Proctor made all four of his free throw attempts in the final 18.4 seconds to ice the win for the Blue Devils.

Smith was not alone in his struggles. Senior guard Casey Morsell did not make any of his eight shot attempts, including all five three-point tries. Senior post player D.J. Burns Jr., was just 2-of-10 shooting in the second half and finished with 13 points.

NC State did get good contributions from fifth-year senior forward Jack Clark, who was 6 of 10 from the field and finished with 13 points and 7 rebounds. Clark had missed the loss to Clemson after taking a hard fall on his left shoulder a game prior vs. Wake Forest.

The Pack received a scare when Joiner twisted his ankle in the first half, but he was able to quickly return to the game and also led NC State with 8 rebounds.

With the defeat, NC State basketball fell to 22-9 overall on the season and 12-8 in the ACC to conclude the Pack’s regular season. Duke improved to 22-8 and 13-6 with the Blue Devils’ fifth straight victory.

Duke was led by junior guard Jeremy Roach’s 20 points on 9-of-19 shooting. Roach was 9 of 14 inside the arc. Freshman forward Kyle Filipowski had a double double of 11 points and 14 boards.

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