NC State basketball gets lift in Terquavion Smith’s return, rallies to beat Notre Dame
If there was any question Terquavion Smith would play Tuesday for N.C. State, it was answered quickly.
Smith was out early at PNC Arena, well before pregame warmups, stretching, taking shots. The sophomore guard, injured on a hard fall Saturday at North Carolina, was ready and in the starting lineup against Notre Dame.
Then came the hard part for N.C. State.
The Irish also came to play. Despite losing eight of its first nine ACC games, the Irish can be a tough out and were again Tuesday as the Wolfpack had to grind out an 85-82 victory.
Jarkel Joiner, a man in charge this night, had 28 points as the Wolfpack (16-5, 6-4 ACC) rebounded from the UNC loss. Smith didn’t have his shooting touch, missing 12 of 14 shots, but finished with 17 points, and D.J. Burns had 14 as the Pack found just enough openings in the Notre Dame zone.
“Terquavion Smith wasn’t Terquavion Smith tonight but I thought he did some good stuff and made some free throws,” Keatts said. “I’m glad he made the decision to play. There was a moment where if he didn’t tell me he was ready to play, I wasn’t going to play him.
“But he fought through some soreness and had a chance to practice (Monday) and obviously came out and competed.”
There were some tense moments for the Pack in the final minutes. Joiner missed a breakaway dunk with 2:37 left and the Pack leading 76-71, enough to draw Keatts’ ire.
“I thought he was really, really good, leadership and as a player,” Keatts said. “I thought he made one dumb play. Just lay the ball up. I just want the basket.
“He typically hasn’t received my stare down until tonight because he’s been so good. But, man, I was really mad at him at that point. As a veteran guy, that basket’s got to go.”
But Burns soon muscled inside for a basket and 78-73 lead, and Joiner then knocked down two free throws with 34.5 seconds remaining.
The Wolfpack bolted to an 11-point lead midway through the first half, only to have Notre Dame (9-12, 1-9) turn to a matchup zone to stymie N.C. State’s offense while being more efficient when it had the ball — the Irish shot 57.7% in the opening half.
Notre Dame, playing its last season with Mike Brey as coach, took the lead with a 21-6 run and led 42-39 at the half as only Joiner — with 16 points — had any offensive punch for the Pack.
“We were just stagnant,” Joiner said. “We knew we could get better shots and we did that in the second half.”
Smith missed all seven shots in the first half, including four 3’s. His first basket of the game — a 3-pointer — came with 16:48 left in the second half and spurred a 10-0 run.
“I had to stay the course, let it come to me and feed off my teammates,” said Smith, who hit 11 of 13 free throws and had a team-high six assists.
The Wolfpack used a quick start to the second half to reclaim the lead, going with a smaller lineup against the zone and getting some good minutes from guard Breon Pass.
Again, the Wolfpack surged to a nice lead — 55-46 six minutes into the second half. Again, the Irish countered.
Cormac Ryan (19 points) and JJ Starling (18) kept the Irish close, Ryan hitting five of Notre Dame’s nine 3-pointers in the game. The Irish also made their free throws, although not as many as UNC did on Saturday.
The Pack finished with just two turnovers in the game, tying the school record for fewest in a game set Jan. 31, 1981 against Georgia Tech. Smith and Joiner each had one turnover Tuesday.
Much of the pregame talk was about Smith, who was stretchered off the Smith Center court and taken to UNC Medical Center for treatment.
“I had numbness in both my arms and my neck,” Smith said Tuesday. “Not being able to feel my upper body was scary to me. “
The first time he touched the ball Tuesday, Smith showed no fear. He took off for the basket off the dribble, drawing a foul while falling to the floor. He hopped up to make both free throws — Smith was 8 of 9 at the line in the first half.
“He only knows one speed,” Keatts said. “The kid is going to play hard and I never worried about him going to the hole again. I knew he would play the way he played.”
Keatts said he was worried about Tuesday’s game after all the events of Saturday and the UNC loss. But the Pack picked up its sixth ACC win.
“I think in a game like this against a team that has their record, we can come out a little bit flat,” Burns said. “It’s human nature. I’m just glad we didn’t do that. Maybe we did a little bit in the first half but we picked it up and we got it going.”
This story was originally published January 24, 2023 at 9:12 PM.
