Omer Yurtseven scored a career-high 29 points, and North Carolina State held on to beat No. 19 Clemson 78-77 on Thursday night after Gabe DeVoe missed the third of three free throws with 0.2 seconds left that would have forced overtime.
Allerik Freeman finished with 14 points for the short-handed Wolfpack (12-5, 2-2 Atlantic Coast Conference), who blew nearly all of a 12-point lead with less than 90 seconds remaining but held on to claim their second home win over a Top 25 opponent in six nights after knocking off then-No. 2 Duke on Saturday night.
Marcquise Reed scored 17 points, Donte Grantham dded 16 and Mark Donnal finished with a season-high 13 for Clemson (14-2, 3-1), which had its 10-game winning streak end.
The Tigers had the ball down by three points twice in the final minute, the last coming after DeVoe's layup with 1.3 seconds remaining. Clemson got the ball back after the officials ruled Torin Dorn's ensuing inbounds pass to Braxton Beverly bounced off the end line.
Sam Hunt then fouled DeVoe as he flung up a 3-pointer from the corner. DeVoe hit the first two free throws, and after NC State coach Kevin Keatts called a timeout to ice him, the Clemson guard bounced his last attempt off the left iron.
BIG PICTURE
Clemson: The Tigers' pursuit of school history is over. They were trying for their first 4-0 start to ACC play since Rick Barnes' 1996-97 team won its first five conference games on its way to a No. 2 national ranking that still stands as the school's best. Everyone will remember DeVoe's miss, but it might not have come down to that had the Tigers not turned it over 17 times, leading to 20 points for the Wolfpack.
NC State: The Wolfpack sure seem to have righted themselves - at least at home, where they improved to 11-1 and avenged a 16-point road loss to the Tigers on Dec. 30. NC State had only eight scholarship players in uniform, and appeared headed for one of the more brutal collapses in recent school history before DeVoe's miss.
UP NEXT
Clemson: Hosts No. 18 Miami on Saturday.
N.C. State: Visits No. 3 Virginia on Sunday night.
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