Mistakes, turnovers and a scoring drought. Why NC State ‘fell apart’ in first ACC loss.

In its first two conference wins, one over North Carolina, another over Boston College, N.C. State did its best to try to give away those games late.

Somehow, though, the Wolfpack in both of those home games managed to win each time, with identical scores of 79-76. On the road for the first time in ACC play, the Wolfpack finally had an opponent happy to take what N.C. State gave away.

No. 19 Clemson on Tuesday did what the Tar Heels and Eagles didn’t — made the Wolfpack pay for late-game carelessness.

The Wolfpack (6-2, 2-1 ACC) led Clemson (9-1, 3-1) by seven with 6:27 remaining in the second half. The Tigers outscored N.C. State 12-5 to end regulation and 12-8 in overtime, for a 74-70 win.

The Wolfpack’s carelessness with the basketball (three turnovers) and missing in action offense (no field goals in final 7:38 of regulation) are ultimately what did the team in. The same mistakes that were masked in narrow wins over UNC and Boston College were detrimental on the road.

“Too many turnovers, too many defensive breakdowns,” head coach Kevin Keatts said. “Too many young guys making mistakes, and our older guys too, I’m not pinpointing anybody.”

Wolfpack can’t keep the momentum going

Senior guard Devon Daniels, who finished the game with three turnovers, two crucial ones in overtime, was more than willing to pinpoint himself.

“I feel like we let that one slip,” Daniels said. “I threw the ball away like three times. I have to take it on the chin, learn from my mistakes.”

One of those mistakes, Daniels pointed out, was not keeping the momentum going. N.C. State led at halftime and was in control for most of the second half. The Wolfpack’s lead never got to double-digits, but with a seven-point lead and 6:27 remaining, Keatts knew it was a key stretch. He called a timeout to set up the right play.

A basket would have pushed N.C. State’s lead to nine, a three would have been a bonus, and put the Wolfpack up by 10. Out of the timeout, N.C. State didn’t get a good shot or really a shot at all. In fact, the Wolfpack was whistled for a shot-clock violation. That left the door open for the Tigers to make a run.

The Wolfpack didn’t get another field goal until overtime. They only hit two shots from the floor in the extra five minutes, and the tide turned in favor of the home team.

Keatts said the scoring drought had more to do with his team than it had to do with Clemson, one of the best defensive teams in the ACC.

“I thought we got some looks, we didn’t make shots,” Keatts said. “Give them (Clemson) credit, we missed some shots.”

Mistakes, fouls and no Braxton Beverly

Keatts felt like the team “fell apart” at the end because of mistakes. A big part of that was his veterans not stepping up and taking control of the game. There were Daniels’ three second-half turnovers, two in overtime. There was the missing senior guard Braxton Beverly, who was a last-minute scratch from the lineup. Junior forward Jericole Hellems fouled out after scoring eight points in the first half. That left most of the ball-handling to freshman Cam Hayes, who scored one point in the second half and finished with three turnovers. His backcourt classmate, Shakeel Moore, added two turnovers.

“It wasn’t just one person,” Keatts said. “Everyone had their hand in it.”

Daniels scored 18 points, playing all 40 minutes. But his performance was overshadowed by him throwing the ball away late in the game, trying to force a pass inside to D.J. Funderburk and one in the corner to Thomas Allen.

“He can’t make those mistakes,” Keatts said. “I told him ‘your leadership is what we need.’ I thought Devon had a really productive game, just at the end it was turnovers.”

Keatts may also have a closer problem from a scoring standpoint. Funderburk and Daniels combined for 23 points in the second half and overtime. The rest of the team combined for eight, including six from sophomore forward Manny Bates. Outside of Funderburk and Daniels, the team shot 3-13 from the floor in the second half and overtime, with all three of those field goals coming from Bates. Daniels said the offense became too stagnant in the second half.

Even in a loss, though, Keatts was optimistic that they can turn things around before Miami comes to town on Saturday.

“If we clean up the mistakes that we made,” Keatts said. “Certainly I think we can compete and beat most teams in the country. But we have to fix this, if we learn from it I’ll take the loss to get better.”

This story was originally published January 6, 2021 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Mistakes, turnovers and a scoring drought. Why NC State ‘fell apart’ in first ACC loss.."