NC State basketball quick hits and notes from loss to Boston College

Quick hits and notes from NC State basketball in its 69-61 loss to Boston College at PNC Arena in Raleigh Wednesday night.

Play Of the Game

It started with one of NC State redshirt sophomore guard Dereon Seabron’s five turnovers. The Pack had just lost its lead the possession before and was trailing 40-39.

Boston College freshman guard Jaeden Zackery stripped Seabron, and it led to a transition opportunity for the Eagles. Senior guard Brevin Galloway made it count with a three-pointer with 13 minutes left, and BC was officially off and running on what would be a 20-5 run that decided the game.

Highlight Of the Game

NC State Basketball Player of the Game

It’s a tough call between Seabron and freshman guard Terquavion Smith, so both get the nod.

Smith had a game-high 21 points on 8-of-18 shooting from the field, including 4 of 10 threes. More on Smith below.

Seabron added 20 points while making 7 of 13 shots. He scored 12 of NC State’s first 14 points and helped the Wolfpack get back into the game after falling behind 14-4 at the outset.

Wednesday marked Seabron’s 11th game of the season with at least 20 points. He also made his first three-pointer since the Feb. 2 home loss to Syracuse.

Too Many Turnovers

NC State had the week off, and perhaps it showed Wednesday night. Within the first seven minutes of action, the Pack had seven turnovers. That trend continued throughout the game.

The Wolfpack finished with 18 turnovers, two shy of their season-high 20 versus Nebraska, a game that went to four overtimes. The previous most turnovers in an ACC game had been 15, done in home losses to Florida State and Clemson.

The lone wolf without a turnover was freshman guard Breon Pass, who notched 11 minutes of action. Four players had multiple turnovers, led by Seabron’s five.

Boston College would outscore NC State 21-9 in points off turnovers. That is the largest differential in a game this season for NC State in that category.

Terquavion Smith Hits NC State Basketball Milestone

What was mostly a forgettable performance from the Pack still had its one shining moment.

Smith broke the school record for most made threes in a season by a NC State freshman with 83, surpassing Maverick Rowan in that category.

Smith is currently shooting 37.4 percent (83-222) from beyond the arc.

Wednesday marked the 10th time that Smith has scored at least 20 points, and the eighth time that he had at least four three-pointers made in a contest.

Injury Bug Strikes Again

NC State has been hit pretty hard this year by injuries. Heading into the matchup against Boston College, NC State already had three players out for the season due to injury — redshirt junior center Manny Bates, junior forward Greg Gantt and freshman forward Ernest Ross.

Now it might have four. This time it is fifth-year senior guard Thomas Allen.

Keatts shared during his postgame press conference that Allen might have suffered a torn plantar fasciitis. While they await official results,  Keatts did suggest that Allen’s season is likely over.

Allen played just two minutes before quickly asking to come off the floor. Keatts mentioned that was odd for Allen, who Keatts noted, “doesn’t normally do that”.

Allen is averaging 3.8 points per game.

If Allen is out for the rest of the year, NC State would be down to just eight scholarship players left on the roster.

NC State Basketball Plus/Minus

Here is the plus/minus for each player for NC State basketball:

Smith: +3 (28 minutes played)

Pass: +2 (11)

Junior guard Casey Morsell: 0 (32)

Sophomore center Ebenezer Dowuona: -2 (33 minutes played)

Allen: -4 (2 minutes played)

Seabron: -5 (36 minutes played)

Senior forward Jericole Hellems: -6 (34 minutes played)

Sophomore center Jaylon Gibson: -6 (7 minutes played)

Sophomore guard Cam Hayes: -22 (17 minutes played)

NC State Basketball Game Scores

Using Hollinger’s measure of productivity, players are graded 1-40 with 10 being average for an NBA player.

Smith: 15

Seabron: 11.6

Dowuona: 9.8

Morsell: 4.6

Hellems: 1.9

Gibson: 0.6

Pass: -0.5

Allen: -1

Hayes: -2

What the NC State Basketball Loss Means

NC State falls to 11-17 and 4-13 in the ACC, while Boston College improves to 11-16 and 6-11 in the league.

Boston College was 1-9 in road games coming into this one, and it marks its first win in Raleigh since 2007.

The Wolfpack is currently tied with Georgia Tech for last in the conference. If the ACC tournament was held today, the Pack would be the 14th seed and play BC in a rematch in the first round of the tournament.

The game was broadcast by ACC Network. Throughout the year, we’ll keep track of the Pack’s record on the different channels:

• ACC Network Extra: 3-1

• FloSports: 1-0

• ESPNU: 1-1

• RSN: 2-3

• ACC Network: 4-7

• ABC: 0-1

• CBS Sports Network: 0-1

• Big Ten Network: 0-1

• ESPN2: 0-2

We also track NC State’s records by month:

• November: 5-1

• December: 2-5

• January: 3-6

• February: 1-5

Other stats of note

• NC State lost the turnover margin 18-13.
• BC had the slight advantage in fast break points, 12-9.
• NC State won on the boards, 32-28 overall and 12-8 on the offensive glass, which led to a 14-9 edge in second-chance points for the Pack.
• The Eagles’ bench outscored the Pack’s reserves 9-2.
• Defensively, NC State had nine blocks and five steals. Boston College rejected two shots and stole the ball 12 times.
• BC led for 34:27 and State for 1:52. The Eagles’ largest lead was 13 points and the Wolfpack’s was two.

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