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NC State came out sharp and focused, but then unraveled in losing 81-76 to North Carolina Greensboro for the first time in school history.

NCSU had been a perfect 9-0 against UNCG (8-3 overall), and a 10th win was looking likely after first 12:39 of the game. The Wolfpack (8-3 overall) were pounding the ball inside to their trio of post players — seniors Lennard Freeman and Abdul-Malik Abu and sophomore Omer Yurtseven. The trio delivered in scoring a combined 18 points and NC State had a comfortable 31-17 lead with 8:21 left in the first half.

A few coaching maneuvers by UNCG coach Wes Miller — switching to various zone and pressure looks — and the good will built up to start the game, vanished by halftime. NC State was in an unexpected dog-fight, and when the game became dominated by three-pointers made, the Spartans surged.

UNCG cut the NC State to two points before the half, 40-38, and then owned the first 10 minutes of the second half. The Spartans surged to as high as a 15-point lead, and led by double digits for the majority of the second half.

“They went on a big run to end the first half and that is what brought them into the game,” Abu said. “In the second half, we let up a little bit and they got comfortable.

“Overall, we just feel like we let ourselves down. We’d rather have it now than later, but we have a lot of work to do.”

NC State still had a chance to force overtime with a buzzer beating three-pointer in the final 11 seconds. NCSU didn’t have any timeouts left and fifth-year senior shooting guard Allerik Freeman dribbled into a turnover, down 79-76.

NCSU head coach Kevin Keatts took aim at the Wolfpack’s defensive mistakes, which led to UNCG shooting an impressive 12 of 24 from three-point land and 51.7 percent overall for the contest. Keatts also lamented giving up 10 offensive rebounds, while the bigger, more athletic Wolfpack had just five.

UNCG senior center Jordy Kuiper in particular hit a pair of back-breaking three-pointers down the stretch, and he was 4 of 5 from beyond the arc.

“I think this was the first time in 11 games where I didn’t think we did a great job of following the scouting report,” Keatts said. “We went into it with the scouting report on the defensive end, knowing we had to do a great job of taking the threes away. We did a poor job.”

NC State returns to action against Robert Morris at home on Tuesday, but the loss to UNCG will still sting, especially with the start of the ACC looming at Clemson on Dec. 30.

Keatts knows how well the Wolfpack played to start the game, but the players couldn’t sustain the success.

“I’ll take that on me as a coach and we have to do a better job of getting the message across,” Keatts said. “We started the game that way and played great, and then we lost them in transition, and toward the end of the half, they made a run.”

NC State shot just 10 of 26 from the field in the second half, mostly against the UNCG zone. Keatts praised the Spartans soft 1-2-2 defense that falls back into a man-to-man and then a zone.

NC State shot 7 of 20 from beyond the arc for the game, and surprisingly had 10 less field goal attempts than UNCG.

“I thought changing defenses coming into it was a game plan to keep them off balance,” Miller said. “They’ve been so good in their ball screen action we wanted to give them different looks defensively. As we got into the second half, we felt like zone was the thing to stick with, and we tried to play as many possessions of two-three zone as we possibly could.”

NC State announced starting sophomore point guard Markell Johnson was suspended indefinitely for a violation of the “student-athlete code of conduct.”

Johnson had started the first 10 games of the season, averaging 8.7 points and 6.6 assists per game. The suspension marked his second in his young Wolfpack career. He had been suspended Dec. 28, 2016, against Rider.

Johnson was fresh off scoring his career-high with 17 points a week ago in a win over Missouri-Kansas City. Two games ago, he had a career-high 12 assists in the win over South Carolina State.

Keatts said he didn’t know when Johnson’s suspension could end.

“We were able to put a team out there on the floor, and I’m not going to make an excuse we didn’t have a young man play,” Keatts said.

Johnson’s defense was also missed, with six games where he got three or more steals this season. Keatts blamed lack of communication for the defensive breakdowns along the perimeter.

“I felt we had too many breakdowns defensively and that isn’t the team we are,” Keatts said. “We have been a solid defensive team, especially guarding the three.”

The absence of Johnson led to starting guards Braxton Beverly and Allerik Freeman logging all 40 minutes. Freshman point guard Lavar Batts Jr. didn’t play for the second time in his young career.

The Wolfpack players learned of the suspension right before the game.

“It definitely was a big difference,” said Abu on Johnson’s absence. “He is a major part of the team.

“Losing him gives us a different look. His speed and his athleticism and the way he pressures the ball, that always changes the game.”

NC State has struggled to find a consistent starting lineup in recent games, and had its fourth different starting lineup against UNCG.

NC State had to shuffle the lineup due to Johnson’s suspension, but he wasn’t the only lineup change. Sophomore center Omer Yurtseven and redshirt junior Torin Dorn started in the post a week ago against Missouri-Kansas City, but the Wolfpack shuffled up the lineup against UNCG.

Fifth-year senior center Lennard Freeman was re-inserted back into the starting lineup after a one-game absence, and Abu earned his first start of the season. Abu has been battling a knee sprain throughout the season. Dorn slid down to small forward for the first time this season.

“I didn’t think it was a good matchup [with Yurtseven] and Lennard had a lot of moments,” Keatts said. “When you add Malik to the group, it changes the dynamics of our substitution. Obviously, I thought Lennard was playing well around the rim.”

Keatts said it could take time for Abu and Dorn to form on-court chemistry again. Dorn played the power forward last year when Yurtseven, Ted Kapita and Maverick Rowan missed time, and then had a tough time adjusting when everyone was back.

“When he [Dorn] moved to small forward, he wasn’t as effective today,” Keatts said. “Those two guys played together for the first time. It’s more of a chemistry thing.”

Freeman responded well with 10 first half points and played above the rim at times. The Wolfpack shot 62.5 percent from the field in the first half (15 of 24) thanks to the reshuffled lineup. Getting the ball inside got harder when UNCG switched to a zone defense, but the three post players combined to go 12 of 13 from the field for 29 points.

“I felt like we had a mismatch on the inside with me, Lennard and Omer, so we have pretty good bigs,” Abu said. “The way games go sometimes, you can’t get it in there.”

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