NC State basketball routs Virginia Tech, advances to quarterfinals against Clemson
N.C. State coach Kevin Keatts was asked before Wednesday’s ACC Tournament game against Virginia Tech if the Pack needed a win to get off the NCAA tournament bubble.
“I just want to win,” Keatts said.
Win and advance, the old Wolfpack postseason mantra. N.C. State did that, jumping in front early, taking a 27-point halftime lead, playing sound defense and beating the Hokies 97-77 to move into a Thursday quarterfinal game against Clemson at the Greensboro Coliseum.
Wolfpack guard Terquavion Smith, who appeared to lose his shooting confidence late in the season, reclaimed it Wednesday. The slender sophomore hit his first shot and was on his way to a 30-point game, hitting 3s, driving to the basket, playing with emotion, making 11 of his 13 shots, enjoying it all.
“I knew I was going to go off before the first shot, honestly,” Smith said. “I had good preparation and I’ve been putting in a lot of work. I’ve kind of been struggling, so the the motivation I got from my teammates and my coaches was incredible.
“It was a lot of fun. This group of guys make the game more fun.”
Smith again teamed with Jarkel Joiner to give the Pack (23-9) transition speed and steady point production. Joiner had 20 points, 10 assists amd seven rebounds as the two guards, both named second-team All-ACC selections this week, played like first-teamers.
“I would call this a statement game for that,” Smith said.
One downside for the Wolfpack was an injury to junior forward Greg Gantt late in the first half. Gantt hurt his right knee after a collision with Virginia Tech’s Justyn Mutts, who stepped on Gantt’s foot as Gantt twisted his leg.
Gantt later returned to the Pack bench on crutches with a knee brace. Keatts said after the game he had no update on Gantt’s injury.
The Pack, the No. 6 seed, lost the last two games of the regular season, getting hammered by Clemson at home and then losing a hard-fought road game at Duke last week. But it used some extra off time — the Wolfpack did not have a game last weekend to mix practices and relax a bit, both mentally and physically.
“We came out ready to go to war,” Pack center D.J. Burns said. “Our intensity was unmatched.”
The Pack, playing its first game in eight days, had that extra bounce in its step. By halftime, the Wolfpack had built a 53-26 lead over the Hokies (19-14), the defending ACC champions, who topped Notre Dame on Tuesday in the opening round.
“I think it was great energy from us on the defensive end to start the game,” Smith said. “I felt like we were motivated and we were pumped up and we were just ready for it.
“We were just hitting, you know. It was hard to stop us all. We were moving the ball, everyone was involved. It was just a lot of great energy.”
Smith knocked down early shots. Joiner did the same. Smith had 19 points in the opening half and Joiner 14 despite the Hokies’ efforts to try and slow them down.
The Hokies looked to double up on the guards if they had the ball near the top of the key, make them give it up. If cut off, Joiner and Smith looked inside — although not to Burns.
The Pack’s big man picked up two quick fouls nine minutes into the game and went to the bench. But Ebenezer Dowuona got the ball and attacked the basket, the 6-11 junior hitting five of six shots in scoring 11 first-half points.
“My man Dowuona came in and did his thing,” Burns said, smiling. “That guy works. He’s stayed ready and he got it tonight.”
The Wolfpack steadily hit shots and steadily built a lead in the first half — 13-4, 20-10, 23-12, 31-16. Smith and Joiner combined to go 13-of-20 from the field and hit six of 10 of their 3-pointers as the Pack overall made 21 of 33 shots in the half and closed at 62% for the game.
Hokies coach Mike Young could not stop the bleeding. He called timeouts. He tried different matchups. Nothing clicked in the first half.
“They wore my tail out,” Young said.
Keatts said the Pack had to take away the 3-pointer defensively and the Pack did that in the opening half — the Hokies missed seven of eight.
Hunter Cattoor, named the tournament MVP a year ago, did not score in the first half until a pair of free throws with five minutes remaining. He finished the game with nine points as Mutts had a team-high 15.
The Pack had Joiner, Casey Morsell and Breon Pass take turns staying with Cattoor, who was injured and did not play against the Wolfpack in the Hokies’ 73-69 loss in Blacksburg.
“I thought we played with grit,” Keatts said. “When we defend like we did tonight, we’re a really good basketball team.”
This story was originally published March 8, 2023 at 11:26 PM.
