Despite squandering a 14-point second-half lead, the NC State men’s basketball team picked up a crucial 89-80 overtime win over Boston College Wednesday night in PNC Arena.
The Wolfpack (19-8, 7-7 ACC) dominated the extra period, outscoring the Eagles (13-12, 4-9 ACC) 16-7 in overtime and out-rebounding them 8-0. Sophomore guard Devon Daniels had a game-high 19 points for the Pack, with five coming in overtime, while redshirt junior guard C.J. Bryce and redshirt senior guard Torin Dorn both added 17.
“I’m relieved and I’m happy that we won,” Daniels said. “Honestly every game from here on out is a must win game and I’m glad we got it done tonight.”
For the Eagles, forward Nik Popovic led the way with 18 points. Forward Steffon Mitchell had a great day on the glass for Boston College, with five offensive boards and 13 overall, but it wasn’t enough for an Eagles team that couldn’t finish down the stretch after going on a 16-0 run to get back into the game.
The Wolfpack controlled both the turnover battle and the free-throw battle. NC State was active on defense all game, forcing 18 BC turnovers and collecting 11 steals as a team. The Pack also did a great job getting to and converting from the free-throw line, making 22 of 26 from the charity stripe.
“The last four or five games, other than Duke, we’ve won the free-throw battle,” head coach Kevin Keatts said. “We’ve talked about that. Tonight I went into this game saying ‘we have to win the free-throw battle.’ The two things that I’ve been focused on is trying to win the rebound battle and trying to win the free-throw battle.”
An early 3-point contest broke out between the Eagles and the Wolfpack, as 24 of the game’s first 29 points were scored from beyond the arc. Pack sophomore guard Braxton Beverly opened up the game 3 for 3 from deep, while Boston College guard Jordan Chatman started 3 for 4, scoring the Eagles’ first 9 points.
Wolfpack sophomore guard Blake Harris drilled a 3-pointer from the wing to put NC State up 17-12 and force a BC timeout. Harris and Beverly had the Pack shooting a blistering 4 for 7 from 3-point land at the 12-minute mark in the first half, one of the best starts shooting wise the Wolfpack has had all year.
A back and forth ensued as the half continued, as both teams continued to shoot efficiently from the 3-point line. Back-to-back 3’s from Beverly and Daniels gave the Pack momentum approaching the last seconds of the first half, but a late 3 by Eagles’ guard Ky Bowman that bounced off of the side of the rim and fell into the basket narrowed the Pack lead to 46-37 heading into the break.
Beverly continue to pace the Wolfpack in the opening half, as he entered the break with a game-high 15 points on 4-of-7 3-point shooting to give the Pack a 46-37. As a team, the Pack shot above 50 percent in the opening half, going 7 for 13 to account for almost half of its points.
After NC State built its lead up to 64-51 in the second half, the Eagles caught fire at the 10-minute mark in the second half. Boston College made five straight baskets to fuel a 9-0 run, which cut the Pack lead to 4 points and forced a timeout call from Keatts.
The timeout didn’t do much to stop BC’s momentum, as the Eagles erased a 13-point deficit in less than five minutes of game time. Bowman drilled back-to-back 3-pointers to give Boston College a 66-64 lead, its first since the game was 9-6, and extend the run to 15-0.
The Wolfpack clamped down after the Eagles took the lead, exchanging buckets down the stretch to not let Boston College continue to build on its momentum.
“You see it in our fight,” Dorn said. “That was one of the keys coming into the game, we had to fight. I think we did that and a lot of guys stepped up today.”
The Pack had a chance to grab a late lead with 30 seconds to play, as Dorn went to the line for a one-and-one after an offensive board. Dorn made the first free throw to tie it at 73-73, but couldn’t get the second to fall. Daniels grabbed the rebound on the miss, but couldn’t get a basket.
Boston College held for the last shot, as Bowman missed the game-winning attempt to send it to overtime at 73-73.
The Pack started overtime with all of the momentum, as Bryce converted an and-one layup to put the Wolfpack up 76-73. Dorn followed with two layups of his own that made the score 80-73 with 3:06 to play. A 3-pointer by Daniels and buckets scored by Dorn and Bryce put the game away, as the Pack cruised to a 89-80 win.
“We just had to stay at it,” Dorn said. “The overtime session was the most fluid we were offensively, and we got stops.”
Solid rebounding heavily contributed to the Pack’s improved play in overtime as it out-rebounded Boston College 8-0. Keatts credited his team’s conditioning for the high-energy play the Pack displayed in the closing minutes.
“Our conditioning, it starts in the summer,” Keatts said. “I don’t think our guys were fatigued. I thought we had a run in us, and we just played. So I think it was our conditioning.”
The Pack will be back home at PNC Arena Sunday afternoon, as it hosts a Wake Forest team that beat it earlier in the year. NC State has just four games left, and is fighting to get above .500 in ACC play.
“Coming down the stretch every game is extremely important,” Dorn said. “To get a win like this in overtime is big for us.”
Redshirt junior guard CJ Bryce goes up for a lay-up against Boston College on Wednesday Feb. 20, 2019 in PNC Arena. Bryce went 6-11 inside the field and 4-4 behind the free-throw line. Bryce contributed 17 points to the 89-80 win over the Eagles.
