NC State was seeking its second huge win of the week, but after playing a strong first half, just didn’t get the necessarily rhythm to upset No. 8-ranked Florida State on Saturday.

NC State (17-10 overall, 8-8 ACC) was hoping for some carryover from the 88-66 win over Duke last Wednesday, and got it on the defensive end. The personnel between FSU (23-4 overall, 13-3 ACC) and Duke is different, but the Wolfpack ensured the Seminoles didn’t have much room to score inside.

NC State took a 32-27 halftime lead thanks to its aggressive switching defense, which limited Florida State to 37 percent from the field. FSU rotated five post players in the first half and they combined for just 10 points. That forced the Seminoles into being dependent on launching jumpers and that wasn’t working either, going 3 of 12 from beyond the arc in the first half.

FSU entered the game second in the ACC in three-point shooting percentage (36.4 percent), but couldn’t get untracked in the first half. It also helped NC State’s cause that FSU senior point guard Trent Forrest picked up his second foul with 9:50 left in the first half, with NCSU leading 17-14. Starting junior wing M.J. Walker also got a second foul and was limited to playing 6:22 in the first half.

The second half was a completely different story.

FSU came out aggressive and used matchup zone defense to try and keep NC State off stride. The duo of Forrest and Walker helped set the tone with a combined 18 points in the second half.

Florida State was also aggressive on the boards, and finished with 39 rebounds and 15 offensive boards for the game.

“To be honest with you, we never really got into a flow of the game,” said NCSU head coach Kevin Keatts about the second half.

FSU went from trailing by five at the half to leading by 57-48 with 8:12 remaining and never got challenged down the stretch. NCSU redshirt junior wing Devon Daniels simply said that basketball is a game of runs, and it’s how you handle it.

“We didn’t respond well enough,” said Daniels, who had 18 points and nine rebounds. “We made more runs in the second half and didn’t make enough in the second half.

“Guys got hot and we let some offensive rebounds slip by.”

Keatts doesn’t like to pick up technical fouls, but he made it clear that he owned the one he picked up Saturday, following senior point guard Markell Johnson’s drive to the basket. FSU freshman Patrick Williams made both free throws to extend FSU’s lead to 55-48 with 9:22 left.

The move didn’t pay off in any kind of momentum swing, but Keatts didn’t regret the move.

“I felt on our drives, we didn’t get the same whistle,” Keatts said. “I’m going to fight for my guys every time. I just didn’t think we got the same calls they got.

“I’m not accusing anybody of cheating, I’m not doing that, but bottom line, I had two guys foul out of the game.”

Like the game itself, the fouls swung greatly in the second half. Florida State had 10 fouls and NC State five in the first half, but the Seminoles finished with 15 for the game.

Part of the second-half momentum swing was Walker getting NCSU redshirt junior center D.J. Funderburk pick up his third foul with 17:57 left in the game, and then his fourth foul at the 16:54 mark. Gambling to leave Funderburk in the game did not pay off for the Wolfpack.

Some of the fouls by NC State at the end of the game skewed the numbers — FSU shot 12 free throws in the final 1:36 — but the Wolfpack only went 2 of 3 from the foul line in trying to attack the Seminoles zone defense.

“They made more free throws (18) than we took (13), and that is tough,” Keatts said. “I didn’t like it and I wasn’t happy with that part of it.”

The combination of the free-throw disparity, FSU winning the battle of the boards in the second and top two leading scorers Johnson and C.J. Bryce combining to go 5 of 22 from the field was too much to overcome.

“They are very good and a good basketball team and he [Leonard Hamilton] has built a great program there,” Keatts said. “I wasn’t happy.

“It is hard for us to get offensive rebounds when our best rebounder is on the bench with 16 minutes to go.”

Could NC State have gotten worn down in the second half? It wouldn’t have been that surprising considering the Wolfpack were coming off an emotional and late-night win over No. 6-ranked Duke on Wednesday. The team then had a short window to prepare for Florida State, and then had a 4 p.m. start Saturday.

“We played two of the top teams and we played them down to the wire,” Keatts said. “I want our guys to learn from this and learn from their great win vs. Duke, and learn from their six-point loss against Florida State.”

Florida State also has a unique advantage of rotating player-after-player throughout a game, including five post players. Florida State picked up fouls throughout the first half, but no player had more than two due in part to its 11-man rotation.

“I think their zone was hard to score with a lot of length out there,” NCSU sophomore forward Jericole Hellems said. “I think a big part of what they have is a lot of players to rotate in and out.”

NC State also played without senior forward Pat Andree, who has been nursing a high ankle sprain, and third string center Danny Dixon logged just 2:44 in the game. After Funderburk and Johnson fouled out, the Wolfpack turned to walk-on forward Max Farthing for the last 44 seconds of the game.

Funderburk had the vantage point of being in the thick of the action, but then had to sit on the bench for part of the second half due to his foul trouble.

“Florida State likes to shrink the floor and deny passes,” Funderburk said. “They will get out to the break and look for their great players.”

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