Despite a number of valiant comeback attempts, the NC State men’s basketball team couldn’t quite catch No. 25 Miami Sunday afternoon in PNC Arena, falling 86-81 for the first home ACC loss of the Kevin Keatts era.
The Wolfpack (13-7, 3-4 ACC) shrunk a 12-point deficit to a one-possession game in the final minute, but fell just short of catching a Hurricanes (14-4, 3-3 ACC) team that shot over 57 percent from the field and 52 percent from beyond the arc on the day. The Pack found its shots as well, shooting over 54 percent, but it was also plagued by 15 turnovers.
“This is the fourth ranked team that we played,” head coach Kevin Keatts said. “Miami’s really good. We had our chances. We had an opportunity when our guys went down 12 in the second half. You get an opportunity to find out a little bit about your guys. Our guys fought and put ourselves in position to win the game.”
Sophomore center Omer Yurtseven was the catalyst for NC State, compiling 28 points on 12-of-16 shooting. Sophomore guard Markell Johnson also chipped in a career-high 14 assists, but turned the ball over six times. The Hurricanes had four scorers in double digits, led by guard Bruce Brown Jr.’s 19 points.
Miami rode a hot shooting hand to jump out to an early lead, pulling ahead 18-9 while shooting 7 of 10 from the field and 3 of 4 from behind the arc. However, the Wolfpack also saw shots fall, and a quick run capped by a one-handed slam from Yurtseven made things 21-20.
“Just call it good coaching,” Keatts said of Miami’s offense. “They’ve had a few extra days off. I know [Miami head coach Jim Larranaga]’s been concerned about his team not shooting the ball or sharing the basketball. Give them credit, I thought they did a tremendous job of sharing the basketball.”
A pair of 3-pointers from graduate guard Sam Hunt helped to tie things at 25-25 and a layup from redshirt junior guard Torin Dorn to make it 27-27, but the Pack was never able to grab the lead as the half expired.
The shootout continued well into the second half, with neither team looking capable of missing shots. At the under-12 minute media timeout, the Wolfpack was shooting a staggering 68.8 percent from the field in the second half. Miami was close behind, shooting 61.1 percent and holding onto a 63-59 lead.
A 7-0 run for NC State, highlighted by 5 points for graduate guard Al Freeman, pulled the Wolfpack to within 1 point at 63-62, but Miami again stopped the spark and gave itself some cushion, answering with a 14-3 run to push its lead to a game-high 12 points. Miami capitalized on State mistakes, as the Pack turned the ball over three times during this stretch.
“I felt like we were just trying to do too much,” Johnson said. “When they were blitzing off the screens, sometimes we would try to split them or snake them. We just did too much.”
However, NC State clawed its way back into things yet again. A 3-pointer from Freeman capped off an 11-5 Pack run that shrunk the deficit in half, with the Hurricanes holding on to a 82-77 lead at the media timeout with 3:07 to play.
“I thought our guys fought extremely hard today,” Keatts said. “If you’re a fan of Miami or NC State, you saw a tremendous offensive performance from both groups. … I thought both teams played very well on the offensive end.”
Much as it has all season, the Pack relied on Yurtseven late to stay in the game. The big man knocked down two free throws, and then put in a hook-shot layup on the next trip down the court to make it a one-possession game with 50 seconds to play.
After a Keatts timeout, NC State appeared to force a turnover at midcourt but the Hurricanes were awarded a late timeout call, much to the displeasure of the PNC faithful and Keatts. Miami found a wide-open man down low on the next possession to go up 86-81, the final points of the game.
“We played well offensively and we fought today,” Dorn said. “It wasn’t a lack of effort, it’s just we’ve got to clean up some mental mistakes.”
The Pack will hit the road for its next game, heading north to take on Pittsburgh Wednesday night.
Sophomore guard Markell Johnson looks on after thinking he committed a foul as Miami's Bruce Brown Jr. goes up for a quick layup after cutting through the Pack's defense. NC State's defense was able to hold Miami at times, but left the back door open allowing Miami to put up 26 assists. The Pack also lacked discipline on offense committing 15 turnovers to Miami's 10. The Wolfpack fell in an 86-81 heartbreaker for their first home loss in PNC on Sunday, Jan. 21.
