NC State struggled connecting from deep Friday in losing its ACC opener.
The Wolfpack shot 6 of 27 from three-point land and trailed the final 22:33 of the contest in losing 68-60 against the defensive-minded Pittsburgh Panthers. NC State fell to 7-2 overall, and Pittsburgh improved to 6-3. Pitt senior guard Jamarius Burton put on a show in his home state — he attended Charlotte (N.C.) Independence High — in leading the Panthers with 24 points and four assists.
“I think at times because the ball wasn’t going in the hole for us, it affected us on the defensive end,” NCSU coach Kevin Keatts said. “It was one of those gritty games where you have to figure out how to win the game, especially when the ball is not going in.”
NC State sixth-year senior point guard Jarkel Joiner has been the straw that has stirred the Wolfpack’s drink this year, but he went 0 of 12 from the field and five turnovers. Redshirt junior stretch four Jack Clark went 0 of 8 with seven of the attempts from beyond the arc. NC State isn’t equipped when two of its key cogs has a combined three points at the free-throw line.
Keatts liked the shots Joiner and Clark got, they just weren’t going in.
“When you look at our team, what has made us special this year is consistently having four guys in double figures,” Keatts said. “Tonight, we didn’t have that.”
Part of it was Pittsburgh’s defense, but NC State tried 27 out of 60 shots from beyond the arc. The Wolfpack went 3 of 15 on three-pointers in the first half — two of them made by sophomore shooting guard Terquavion Smith in the first 52 seconds of the game. The lack of rhythm on offense led to the Panthers leading 33-28 at halftime.
NC State redshirt junior center D.J. Burns tried to carry the offense with the outside shooting struggling. He returned to his sixth man role and had 11 points in 12 minutes of action in the first half, but had just two points in the second half.
Foul troubled led to both Burns and starting center Dusan Mahorcic missing time in the first half with two fouls. NC State ended up playing four different centers with junior Ebenezer Dowuona and sophomore Ernest Ross trying keep the Pack afloat.
Pittsburgh coach Jeff Capel said he knew NC State wanted to play fast, and his team might be more built for a physical contest. Capel knew it would be a challenge to guard Smith and he wanted to affect NCSU’s three-point shooting.
“I thought our defense was outstanding throughout,” Capel said. “We played hard and made things difficult for them. We got some stops and got out in transition.”
The Panthers relied on four veterans who had transferred into the program over the years.
“They have a really good feel for sharing the basketball and making the right play,” Capel said. “They weren’t afraid of the moment on the road, with the crowd going nuts.”
NC State will return to action next Tuesday against Coppin State at PNC Arena. Keatts figures with an older roster, the players will bounce back easier.
“We have 19 more [ACC] of them to play,” Keatts said. “We certainly had our home opener here, and we wanted to win it, and it’s an ACC game. We know how important they are. At the end of the day, we can’t put our head down. We have a lot more basketball to play.”
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