NC State starts two-game road trip with necessary intensity
Winning ACC games on the road is not easy. No. 7 NC State (17-2) had not won a conference game away from Reynolds Coliseum since a Dec. 31 victory over Virginia, until it took down Clemson 71-49 Thursday night.
Elsewhere in the league, No. 23 Florida State lost a 42-point game on the road against an unranked Duke squad. And one week ago, NC State went ice-cold from the field and fell by double-digits to Miami.
Wes Moore and the rest of the Pack is keenly aware at this point in the year that road wins don’t come easy, no matter who the opponent is. After NC State withstood a late push from Clemson, the head coach was happy with the team’s mindset.
“I think we came out ready to play today,” Moore told WKNC after the game. “This is a tough league. If you’re not ready to play on the road, you’re probably going to get beat.”
The Wolfpack fell to Virginia Tech and Miami earlier this month, the program’s only losses of the 2023-2024 season. In its setback against the Hurricanes, the Wolfpack shot 28.1 percent from the field.
NC State hit 44.8 percent of its field goals Thursday night, including 6 threes against Clemson’s zone. Senior guard Madison Hayes led the team with 24 points— a career-best outing that included 15 second-half points.
“When you’re going against the zone, you can have all kinds of little schemes and things but, at some point, you’ve got to hit some shots too because they’re packing it in or whatever,” Moore said.
Moore said the Pack still has some work to do on shot selection. NC State made 33.3 percent of its attempts in the third quarter, allowing the Tigers to cut into the Wolfpack’s 20-point halftime advantage. A couple of turnovers forced by junior guard Saniya Rivers helped halt Clemson’s second half momentum.
She finished the game with 7 steals to lead NC State’s defensive effort, holding the Tigers to their second-lowest scoring total of the season.
Going into this conference clash, Moore knew senior forward Amari Robinson and graduate guard Dayshanette Harris would be two key players to watch. The Tigers’ two top scores on the season, combining for 29.6 points per game, finished Thursday’s contest with 15 total points.
NC State also dominated the glass. Led by Hayes with 9 boards, the Pack won the rebounding battle 43-30.
“I thought we did have good energy,” Moore said. “We did a great job on the boards and, on the road, that’s what you have to do— defend and rebound.”
After picking up the program’s fifteenth-consecutive win over the Tigers, NC State travels up to Boston College for another road game. The Eagles play some zone defense as well, so they will provide a similar test for the Wolfpack.
Moore said Boston College’s arena is booked for a hockey game Saturday, so the team will not be able to shoot around until early Sunday morning. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m.
“We’ve just got to, hopefully, keep this same energy we had tonight and, when we start the game, come out and be the aggressor and see where the chips fall,” Moore said.
