Almost nothing went NC State’s way Saturday afternoon in PNC Arena, but the Pack’s continued turnover problems stuck out the most.

The Wolfpack (8-9, 4-8 ACC) committed 13 first-half turnovers for the second consecutive game, this time resulting in a 69-53 loss to Duke (8-8, 6-6 ACC).

State finished with 18 total turnovers, which the Blue Devils were able to convert into 22 points.

“I told the team after the game, it's going to be hard to win any ACC game down the stretch if our ball security is not very good,” Wolfpack head coach Kevin Keatts said. “To be honest, we stink right now in that area. Against Syracuse we had 20 turnovers, tonight we had 18, and we don't put ourselves in a great situation to win no matter how hard we play, no matter who has a hot hand. "

“When you look at the first half, we gave it away 13 times, and we dug ourselves such a big hole. Then you're climbing back out of that hole the entire game."

Another startling similarity to NC State’s 77-68 loss to Syracuse Tuesday was how widespread the turnovers were. Six Wolfpack players had at least two turnovers. Freshman guard Cam Hayes led the team with four, and senior guard Braxton Beverly added three in 12 minutes.

"I wish I could point to one guy who's doing it, but it's everybody," Keatts said.

Once again this season, lack of practice potentially contributed to the situation. Hayes and Beverly both missed multiple practices leading up to the game with non-COVID related illnesses.

“For a couple of days in practice, I didn't have Cam Hayes or Braxton Beverly,” Keatts said. “Those two guys, who are playing pretty solid for us, we found out that they had a stomach virus that's kind of going around, so we had to sit those guys for a couple of days.”

NC State prides itself under Keatts as a team that emphasizes forcing turnovers on defense and converting those takeaways into points on the other end.

That identity is the recipe for the Pack’s success when looking at its record this season. The Wolfpack is 7-1 in games it forces its opponent to 16 or more turnovers, and 1-8 in contests it creates 15 or fewer takeaways on the defensive end.

Saturday night, NC State forced Duke to 13 turnovers and was only able to create 10 points off of those opportunities.

“When you take a look at the stat sheet, it's not a good thing for us, it's not a good formula,” Keatts said. “It's weird because I've never been on this end when we have turned it over so much. We're usually the team that's turning people over, and we have to solve it. It's on me, I'm the coach, I'll get it straight. We're just not very good in that area, and when you're not good in that area, it doesn't work well for you to win games.”

Duke received over a third of its points from one player: sophomore forward Matthew Hurt.

Hurt, who led the Blue Devils in scoring and rebounding entering the contest, presented a tough matchup for the Pack as a 6-9 post player with pick-and-pop ability.

His sharp perimeter shooting was on full display in PNC Arena. Hurt led all scorers with 24 points, going 8-of-10 from the field including 6-of-7 on three-point attempts.

“He's a good basketball player,” Keatts said. “When they added Mark Williams to the lineup, it allowed Matthew Hurt to be able to play on the perimeter and not so much inside. He's probably one of the toughest, if not the toughest matchup in our league because he can spread you out at 6-9, 6-10 and make shots. I don't want to take away from his performance saying that we didn't do a great job because I thought he played tremendously.”

NC State’s three veterans in the frontcourt played a majority of the Pack’s minutes Saturday. Redshirt sophomore center Manny Bates led the team with 36 minutes, while fifth-year senior forward DJ Funderburk played 35, and junior forward Jericole Hellems saw 33 minutes on the court.

Going big helped the Wolfpack outrebound (31-27) and outscore Duke in the paint (40-26), but the forward-heavy lineup left State vulnerable on the perimeter. The Blue Devils were able to shoot 50 percent from beyond the arc, making 9-of-18 attempts.

“Early on we made a couple of mistakes when we didn't switch off or they dragged the screen as they doubled and threw it back to [Hurt],” Keatts said. “It's tough when you're switching, it's a four-to-one screen. They won't be able to pick-and-pop on you, but you got a 5-11, six-foot guy on a 6-9 guy who can shoot over most bigs.

“I thought early on we lost [Hurt], he made some great plays. The first one was out of transition, we didn't locate. The second was on a ball screen where they dragged the ball screen and threw it back to him. At that point, we started switching the screen because I didn't think they could hurt us inside by the time they moved the basketball around. He made shots, give him credit. He was as good as advertised today. “

The Wolfpack has faced more than its fair share of adversity this season, and that didn’t change Saturday.

Beverly, who had two points and one assist but also accounted for three turnovers in 12 minutes, was slow to get up after a hard foul by Duke’s Jordan Goldwire on a layup attempt late in the first half. The senior guard grabbed his back, missed short on the front end of a one-and-one free throw attempt, and promptly went to the locker room with 1:40 remaining until halftime.

While Beverly did return to the bench midway through the second half, he never checked back into the game.

“I don't have anything yet, I'll get it later on,” Keatts said. “The promising thing is he was sitting in the locker room after the game as opposed to in the training room, but he's going through it. He's in pain. The problem with him, he's probably not going to let you know he's in pain, so it's going to have to come from our sports medicine staff to figure it out.”

The 6-0 guard has struggled with back issues during his college career and notably was unable to sit in a chair while on the bench during conference play last season due to fear of spasms.

The same stomach bug that caused Beverly and Hayes to miss time in practice this week has made its way around the locker room. Freshman center Ebenezer Dowuona was absent from the bench during the game after coming down with the illness.

——

• Talk about it inside The State of Basketball

• Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes

• Learn more about our print and digital publication, The Wolfpacker

• Follow us on Twitter: @TheWolfpacker

• Like us on Facebook