The NC State men’s basketball team fell to the Boston College Eagles 69-61 inside PNC Arena in a game defined by live-ball turnovers and a lack of transition defense by the Wolfpack.
Going purely by shooting stats, the Wolfpack (11-17, 4-13 ACC) seemed to fare better in the game than the final result suggested. However, Boston College (11-16, 6-11 ACC) capitalized on NC State’s abysmal 18 turnovers, with the Eagles scoring 21 points off those turnovers, which ended up being the final nail in the Wolfpack’s coffin.
“I thought our guys played hard, but it’s gonna be hard to beat anybody when you turn the ball over 18 times,” Keatts said. “When I go back and look at the stat sheet, you don’t know that during the game but we gave up 21 points off of turnovers, and then they had 12 fast-break points. That’s 33 points that we didn’t get a chance to defend in an eight-point game.”
It wasn’t all bad for the Wolfpack though. In a season defined by individual performances, freshman guard Terquavion Smith broke the NC State record for most 3s by a freshman ever. Smith’s 83 3s passed Maverick Rowan’s 81 3-pointers in his freshman season in 2015-16.
“It means a lot,” Smith said. “It means everything to come in here and break the record. This is my dream school, so it means a lot to me to come in here and do that.”
Smith ended the game by outscoring every other NC State player not named Dereon Seabron combined. The 6-foot-4 freshman finished the game with 21 points, led the team with seven rebounds, had a flashy block and fantastic steal, and shot 4 for 10 from downtown.
This season has disproved the famous Aristotle quote “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts,” as the sum of NC State’s individual player performances are much greater than the whole result.
Redshirt sophomore guard Dereon Seabron finished the game with 20 points, 17 of which came in the first half. Outside of Smith and Seabron, the Wolfpack roster combined for 20 points, 19 rebounds, 10 turnovers and shot 8 of 23 (34.8%) from the field.
Boston College, on the other hand, shared the wealth. The Eagles got it going on the interior early on and they ended up outscoring the Pack 38-26 on the inside. Boston College had four players finish in double-figure scoring, led by the 7-foot Quinten Post, who aptly dominated in the post and had his second-highest scoring game of the season with 18 points, and Jaeden Zackery, who finished with 16 points.
The Eagles quickly set the tone on the inside, getting off to a quick start inside behind Post and James Karnik. Behind Post, the Eagles got out to a quick 14-4 lead before Seabron helped bring the Pack back.
Seabron scored 15 of the Wolfpack’s first 19 points in the game, including a step-back 3-pointer. Then, Smith came alive in the final five minutes of the half, scoring seven points in just over a minute of game time. That one-two punch brought the Wolfpack back to within two points at the break.
Unfortunately, Seabron’s offensive output would come to a screeching halt in the second half, scoring only three points in the period on 17% shooting from the floor. Seabron’s production was a microcosm of the Wolfpack’s overall issues.
“I’ve been trying to figure that out all year long,” Keatts said. “[Seabron]’s had great second halves. He hasn’t been able to put together back-to-back [good halves]. He’s had great games for us, but we haven’t seen games where he’s played great in both halves.”
What Seabron left to be desired in the game’s later half, Smith picked up for by scoring 14 points and reeling in six boards in the period. However, it wasn’t enough to withstand Boston College’s scoring in the paint, the Wolfpack’s severe turnover issues, as well as the Eagles’ 12 fast-break points.
To make matters worse, redshirt senior guard Thomas Allen left the game in the first half with an injury and did not return.
“I’m afraid that he may have a torn plantar fascia,” Keatts said. “There is a possibility that his season may be done. … I don’t know that, but it doesn’t look good. … That’s sad to be a young man who is going into senior night on Saturday, and didn’t get a chance to finish his season last year.”
Despite its best late-game efforts, including an emphatic jam by Smith, the Wolfpack fell to the Eagles by eight, a team that had just five ACC wins before the matchup.
“Our message is gonna be the same as if we were winning,” Keatts said. “We’re just gonna keep fighting, keep playing hard. We literally take one game at a time. We talked about going into this game, we have four games in the regular season and then in the [ACC] Tournament, anything can happen. … the Tournament can be magical. Anything can happen in the Tournament if you can get hot and you can start playing well.”
The Pack returns to action on Saturday, Feb. 26 inside PNC Arena to celebrate senior night against its rival UNC-Chapel Hill. Tipoff for the game is scheduled for 2 p.m. and can be viewed nationally on ESPN. For live updates on this matchup make sure to follow @TechSports on Twitter.
“Let’s forget about who we’re playing,” Keatts said. “Man, it’s senior night. I don’t know if Thomas Allen is gonna be able to play in the game on senior night, but he’s a local young man who originally signed here. … You can’t say enough about him. Jericole [Hellems], in today’s time, is a guy who started here as a freshman and will end here as a senior and has gotten better every single year. … I hope that everybody comes out to send our seniors off the right way; that would be great.”
