On a night where 3-point makes were few and far between, NC State earned its third conference victory with its defensive prowess, defeating Wake Forest 72-63 Thursday night at PNC Arena.
After forcing a 10-second violation on the Demon Deacons (8-10, 1-5 ACC) with 2:02 left to play, the Wolfpack (13-6, 3-3 ACC) closed out the game on a 9-0 run to secure the win. NC State tightened up on the defensive end in the second half, limiting Wake Forest to just 27.8 percent from the field.
“Those last four minutes were really good,” head coach Kevin Keatts said. “I think we held [Wake Forest] scoreless in the last four minutes, and when you look down the stretch Markell Johnson made a huge shot and so did [redshirt junior guard Torin Dorn] to put us over the hump.”
After trading baskets with the Demon Deacons to begin the contest, the Wolfpack seemingly began to pull away with just over nine minutes left in the first, building a 9-point lead and leading 26-17 following a Johnson 3-pointer from the corner. The game was Johnson’s first action in PNC Arena since his suspension was lifted.
The Demon Deacons immediately fought back, going on a 15-0 run to take the lead 30-26 with 4:21 left in the first half. The Wolfpack’s scoring drought stemmed from its inability to connect from beyond the arc.
NC State launched an abnormally abundant 16 3-pointers in the first half, connecting on just four of them. Wake’s zone defense certainly had a role in the shot selection, as the Pack started the half 4 of 8 from deep but proceeded to miss on eight-straight 3-point attempts to conclude the first half.
Freshman guard Braxton Beverly promptly sank a 3-pointer to open up the scoring for the Pack in the second half, bringing the score to 40-36 in favor of Wake Forest.
Beverly finished his night one assist shy of a double-double, logging 10 points on 3-of-6 shooting and nine assists. His backcourt partner Johnson also had an impressive night, finishing the game with a career-best 13 points in conference play.
Beverly sank another three with 13:30 left to play to give the Pack its first lead of the second half at 47-46. The teams exchanged buckets until Yurtseven hit yet another three to put the Pack back in the lead again, this time at 50-49.
Yurtseven finished with a healthy 22 points on 9-of-16 shooting, including two 3-pointers on the night along with several midrange jumpshots. The center also grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.
“I feel like I’m a big part of it, I’m definitely part of the puzzle,” Yurtseven said. “Every game a guy steps up and the last three games I was the one.”
The game-changing play came late in the second half. With 2:02 left to play and the score at 63-63, the Wolfpack forced a 10-second violation on an experienced Wake backcourt, much to the delight of the Wolfpack faithful.
“Plays like that don’t make Sportscenter Top 10,” Beverly said. “Those are plays that can win you games and really turn the momentum around and it did, it was huge for us.”
On the ensuing possession, Johnson sank a pull-up, midrange jumper to push the score to 65-63. After a defensive stop by the Pack, Dorn sank a jumper to extend NC State’s lead to four with just 57 seconds to play.
Wake Forest guard Mitchell Wilbekin failed to connect on a 3-point attempt, leading to a change of possession. Johnson was promptly fouled after rebounding the miss and sank two more free throws, increasing the Wolfpack lead to 69-63.
Several more Wake misses and foul shots by NC State followed as the Pack came out on top, 72-63 over the Demon Deacons.
Beverly finished his night one assist shy of a double-double, logging 10 points on 3-of-6 shooting and nine assists. Johnson finished the game with a career-best 13 points in conference play.
“To give our guys some credit, I thought we won the game on the defensive end,” Keatts said. “On a night where we weren’t particularly shooting the ball well, when you look at us, 7 for 26 from the three, we found a way to win another ACC game because I thought our guys defended at the end.”
The Wolfpack returns to action Sunday when it takes on Miami at noon in PNC Arena where NC State will be searching for its fourth-straight conference home win.
Sophomore center Omer Yurtseven slams home a dunk against Wake Forest on Thursday, Jan. 18 in PNC Arena. Yurtseven finished the game with 22 points and eight rebounds as the Wolfpack won 72-63 to improve to 13-6 overall and 3-3 in conference play.
