The NC State men’s basketball team capped off a disappointing regular season in a similar fashion, falling 70-64 to the Clemson Tigers in the first round of the ACC Tournament in the Brooklyn borough of New York City on Tuesday, March 8.
Low shot IQ, poor shot-clock management, a lack of set plays, allowing a big to dominate inside; whatever the case may be, these are issues that have been seen time and time again for a Wolfpack team that lost 20-plus games for the first time in program history and a team that has lost 11 of its last 12.
“I’m not relieved, and I don’t think [the players] are. I should allow film, a camera crew in my locker room. There were guys crying,” said head coach Kevin Keatts. “There were guys with disappointment. … We didn’t come to Brooklyn hoping to get this thing over. We came to Brooklyn with the opportunity to win, and obviously, the opportunity was to try to beat Clemson to advance. So from where I can see, our guys had no lay-down, no quit, and they wanted the opportunity to win.”
It was an ugly game of basketball through and through. NC State and Clemson combined to shoot 10 for 46 (27.1%) on 3-pointers and the Wolfpack shot 34.9% from the field as a team.
“I have no problem with our shots,” Keatts said. “We just didn’t make them. As I told you before, the thing about Clemson, I don’t know if anybody will give them credit, they may be the hottest team coming into the ACC, winning four games before they got here in a row and obviously today. But I thought we got good looks. They just didn’t go down.”
Freshman guard Terquavion Smith, who averaged 16.5 points per game on nearly 38% shooting from deep entering the game, ended the contest with just seven points, shooting an abysmal 2 for 13 from the floor, with his first field goal coming with just 3:40 left in the game.
Redshirt sophomore guard Dereon Seabron had a solid outing, scoring 19 points and adding 12 rebounds and six assists, his 12th double-double of the season and first since the team’s win over Georgia Tech.
In the last game of his NC State career, senior forward Jericole Hellems got hot early but faltered as the game went on, ending with 13 points, eight rebounds and three steals.
“I just want to thank everybody that supported me throughout the four years I’ve been here,” Hellems said. “It’s been fun. I’ve had ups and downs like anybody else. The most important thing was just building relationships with certain people throughout my four years. So I’m so thankful for that, and I’m thankful for God putting me in the position that I am in.”
While the Wolfpack’s performances were all over the place, with no player shooting well, the Tigers were the opposite. Clemson had three players finish in double-digit scoring, spearheaded by ACC Most Improved runner-up PJ Hall, who went to the tune of 18 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and four blocks.
Al-Amir Dawes hit several big 3s for the Tigers, ending with 12 points, while Nick Honor finished with 13 points and Chase Hunter had eight to go along with four assists.
The Wolfpack got out to an early strong start behind back-to-back 3-pointers from Hellems, getting out to a 10-6 lead, but Clemson quickly responded with 3s from Dawes. The Wolfpack stayed within striking distance but a combined 20 points from Hall, Dawes and Naz Bohannon kept the game out of reach for the first half.
NC State had some bright moments in the second half, getting some and-one opportunities from Seabron and sophomore forward Jaylon Gibson, who finished with eight points and four rebounds and scoring 40 points in the half. But the Wolfpack could never quite gain the lead and ultimately fell, snapping any chance of an ACC Tournament miracle.
“I’ve said this plenty of times, I’m so proud of every kid in our locker room, and the reason being is because the way the season has gone, we had every opportunity to put our head down and cry and lay down and not play, even though we were on-demand,” Keatts said. “I can tell you, I can honestly feel as a coach that our guys played and competed as hard as they can every opportunity they’ve had.”
Despite the way the season went for the Wolfpack, there is optimism that the offseason could bring fresh blood. Recent rumors indicate five-star guard Robert Dillingham may reclass to the 2022 class, and the transfer portal is as wide-open as it’s ever been.
On the other hand, the futures of Smith, Seabron and redshirt junior forward Manny Bates, along with other players on the roster, could mean outgoing transfers or moves to the NBA.
“I’m not really focused on that right now but when the time comes, I’m going to sit down with coach [Keatts] and my family, and we’ll see what’s the best decision,” Seabron said.
Despite what optimism or pessimism next season holds, the Wolfpack heads home as the worst team in the ACC and will look to get back on track in the 2022-23 season.
“As far as our guys in the locker room, the thing that we talked about is don’t miss out on your lesson,” Keatts said. “A lot of times people think there’s lessons because you win the game. Well, there are a lot of lessons that we can learn through this year. So we’re all going to individually learn our lessons. We’re going to figure it out, and we all will become better because of it.”
