In what ended up being a tightly contested, fast-paced game, the NC State men’s basketball team started slow and was never able to take the lead as it fell to UNC-Chapel Hill 90-82 in a packed PNC Arena Tuesday night.
The Wolfpack (13-2, 1-1 ACC) kept it close but couldn’t execute in crucial situations while the Tar Heels (12-3, 2-0 ACC) answered every Wolfpack run and pulled away at the end to pick up the victory.
“I thought we had our chances,” head coach Kevin Keatts said. “When you score 82 points, that’s enough to win the game, but we’ve got to do a better job at cleaning up some of the mistakes we made.”
The Wolfpack got off to an ice-cold start from the field, missing its first seven shots while watching UNC jump out to a commanding 12-0 lead just minutes into the game. The deficit swelled to 14 before the Pack was able to get anything going on the offensive end.
The Wolfpack eventually cut the UNC lead to just two thanks to some heroics by sophomore guard Braxton Beverly, who finished the first half with 15 points on 5-of-6 shooting, but the Tar Heels were able to regain control and enter halftime with a 47-42 lead.
“I feel pretty good out there,” Beverly said. “That really comes from our coaches working with us before practice and after practice, and my teammates being confident in me and encouraging me to take the shots I have and be aggressive and play my game.”
Beverly finished the game with a team-high 21 points on 8-of-14 shooting with a career-high five 3-pointers. For much of the first half, he was focal point of the Wolfpack offense, but was held to just six points in the second half.
“He shot the ball really well,” redshirt senior guard Torin Dorn said. “Everytime he does that, I think we have a chance to be successful.”
The second half saw a tighter contest with the Wolfpack evening the score twice, but the Tar Heels were able to answer every time. In the end, NC State was unable to capitalize on the chances it had, whether it be from the free-throw line or on the glass. The Tar Heels torched the Wolfpack on the glass, winning the rebounding battle 51-33, with 14 being of the offensive variety.
Despite several runs that brought the game close, including a C.J. Bryce 3-pointer that sailed wide left and would have put the Pack within one point with under a minute to go, UNC pulled away and left Raleigh with the 90-82 road victory, its sixth win in a row at PNC Arena.
“We just didn’t execute down the line,” redshirt sophomore forward DJ Funderburk said. “Like our coach told us, 82 points, that can get us a lot of wins on offense, but we need to get defensive stops.”
Much to the Wolfpack faithful’s dismay, senior UNC forward Luke Maye followed up last year’s stellar 33-point performance in PNC with another impressive showing, scoring a team-high 21 points while grabbing 11 rebounds and dishing out three assists. Coby White also gave NC State trouble, as the guard went for 19 points on 7-of-14 shooting.
Cam Johnson and Garrison Brooks each grabbed double-digit rebounds and combined for a solid 26 points on the night. In contrast, NC State’s leading rebounder was Dorn, who came away with 10 rebounds in addition to 12 points.
Graduate Wyatt Walker found himself in foul trouble for most of the game and was held to just two points offensively. Funderburk had a fine game, scoring 15 points on an ultra efficient 6-of-7 shooting from the field, but Carolina’s frontcourt play and depth was too much for the Wolfpack to handle.
“We won’t be defined by one game,” Keatts said. “It shows a lot about us and the program and the direction that we’re moving in that we refuse to just lay down.”
The Wolfpack will be back in action Saturday against Pittsburgh at PNC Arena at 12 p.m.
Redshirt sophomore forward DJ Funderburk gets called for a foul as he goes up for a rebound against UNC-Chapel Hill forward Luke Maye. The Wolfpack was out-rebounded 51-33 in the 90-82 loss on Tuesday, Jan. 8 in PNC Arena.
