NC State has struggled executing down the stretch all season, and Saturday was no different.
Clemson sixth-year senior guard Chase Hunter played like the veteran he is and delivered a few key play en route to 18 points in a 68-58 victory at the Lenovo Center.
Hunter scored a team-high 20 points and the Tigers had just five turnovers to improve to 18-4 overall and 10-1 in the ACC.
NC State fell to 9-12 overall and 2-8 in the ACC and ended up falling in a somewhat familiar fashion. The twist for this loss is that 3-4 players were battling illness, and senior center Brandon Huntley-Hatfield couldn’t play.
Keatts said the team has proved to have the good habit of always playing hard.
“We have been in every game because our hearts are always on the line,” Keatts said. “I got to show up every night. Sometimes it comes to just maybe the other guys have a few more better players than we do. We just got to keep figuring it out and keep plugging.”
NC State played better when senior center Ben Middlebrooks was on the floor, and without Huntley-Hatfield, there was immense pressure for Middlebrooks to remain on the court.
Clemson had two stretches in the game where Middlebrooks went to the bench with foul trouble, and that limited him to 27 minutes played.
“It’s so much pressure. Some of that comes down to you're playing against somebody, we're playing against the biggest frontcourt probably in the ACC. They knew that there was no Brandon also, so they're going to make an effort to get the ball inside and try to get him in foul trouble. We talked about it.”
The Tigers took advantage when Middlebrooks hit the bench with three fouls with 13:52 left. NC State went from leading 39-38 to trailing 51-43 with 7:43 left in the contest when he returned. CU center Viktor Lakhin capped the 13-4 run with a three-pointer from the top of the key.
NC State entered the game on a five-game losing streak and have lost seven of the last eight. Outside of the Wake Forest loss on Jan. 4, the Wolfpack have had a chance in the last five minutes.
“Our team's fighting,” Keatts said. “We played against a very good Clemson team. Obviously, they came in 9-1. I got to put the work in. We have these four- or- five-minute stretches that I feel like are really, really hurting us.”
NC State had one last gasp in a position they’ve been often, trailing 59-53 with 3:44 left in the game. The last five minutes is usually when the opposing team amps up their defense.
That is exactly what happened. Dillon Hunter hit a 3-pointer and his older brother Chase Hunter got a steal and breakaway dunk. Chase Hunter later added a jumper, and Clemson had a 66-53 lead with 2:18 left, and the 7-0 run broke the game open — again.
“You look at his numbers and how he affected the game, 20 points,” Keatts said. “I thought doing their stretch when they needed a play, Chase Hunter was really good. I thought he made a couple plays down the stretch. He's an all-conference guy, probably a first-team all-conference guy.”
Clemson and NC State didn’t have much separation in the first half. Clemson eventually took advantage over the final 4:38 when Middlebrooks exited with two fouls. Clemson was trailing 29-28 with 2:35 left and went on a mini-6-0 to regain the lead. The Tigers went into halftime leading 34-31 after shooting 51.9 percent shooting from the field.
NC State senior forward Dontrez Styles continued his hot play of late and had 10 points and two three-pointers in the first half. The Wolfpack also dominated the boards in the first 20 minutes, holding a 21-14 advantage and 8-1 on offensive rebounds.
Conversely, Clemson scored 22 of its 34 points in the paint and only had three turnovers in the first half.
Styles finished with 24 points and went 6 of 8 from three-point land in the loss, but the Wolfpack didn’t have anyone else in double figures, and Marcus Hill’s eight points was second on the squad.
“Our defense is still doing a great job of carrying us through most of these games,” Keatts said. “It looks like when we get in trouble, we don't score the basketball.”
NC State has a two-game swing on the West Coast this upcoming week. The Wolfpack play at California at 11 p.m. Wednesday, and then at Stanford at 7 p.m. Saturday.
“I think it's a great time,” Keatts said. “We talked about that. I mean that in a good way is I want us to get away and just get back to hanging as a team.
“Let's get away, clear our minds a little bit, see can we figure it out and move forward.”
Styles can see they are close, yet also so far away at the same time.
"If you go back and watch some of the games, you'll see that we kind of beat ourselves," Styles said. "We have the opportunity to go win against Duke in this game as well, and our previous games. We just got to figure out how to get over the hump."
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