The NC State men’s basketball team defeated Wake Forest 90-74 in PNC Arena on Wednesday, Feb. 22.

Following “just another game” on Sunday against UNC, the Wolfpack (22-7, 12-6 ACC) looked to handle another in-state ACC opponent in the Demon Deacons (17-11, 9-8 ACC). The stakes tonight were even higher than usual as the 1983 national championship team was in attendance.

Graduate guard Jarkel Joiner was electric throughout, leading all scorers with 29 points and shooting over 50% from the field. This type of play is becoming the norm for the Ole Miss transfer, who’s recorded back-to-back games of 25 or more points.

Despite Joiner getting the last laugh, it was all Wake Forest early — shooting 65.4% from the field in the first half, as well as 60% from the 3-point line. However, the Pack didn’t go away, finishing the first half 67.7% from the field and bouncing back from a tough start on both ends of the court. NC State used that shift to take a 52-46 lead into the locker room at the break.

Senior guard Casey Morsell was also in double figures for the Pack tonight. Adding a block and a steal to his stat line, the veteran pieced together quite a nice game, contributing heavily on the defensive end as he so often does.

“We really had to run them off the line,” Morsell said. “After [we did that], more misses started to come, and it led to a lot of opportunities on the other end [of the court].”

Graduate forward DJ Burns relived shades of his performance against Wake Forest earlier this year, totaling 21 points and five rebounds. While it fell short of his career-high 31 points in January, the crowd at PNC didn’t seem to mind, roaring to life whenever Burns received the ball and backed his defender down to the rim.

Sophomore forward Ernest Ross posted a great night defensively, recording two blocks and a steal. Ross said the defensive adjustments made at halftime allowed the team to pull away after a high-scoring first period.

“We didn’t play defense like we should have in the first half,” Ross said. “That’s why they got the open looks and made the shots that they made. But we adjusted in the second half to make reads, and we were able to defend the 3-point line.”

Tonight’s game had a different feel for head coach Kevin Keatts. After losing the season series against Wake Forest a year ago, he successfully turned the tables in 2023.

“[There were] a lot of things going against us,” Keatts said. “They’d won three out of four, it’s a 9 o’clock game, everything surrounding the ‘83 team. … I was worried about the stuff I couldn’t control, and our guys wind up playing really, really hard.”

While each team spent halftime in the locker room making adjustments, the crowd honored a group of NC State legends. The 1983 championship team, coined the Cardiac Pack, was reunited on the court, fielding raucous cheers from the Wolfpack faithful. The shining moment of the ceremony came when the late head coach Jim Valvano’s grandson held up a famous picture of his legendary relative.

The second half wasn’t a barn burner like the first half. Whatever defensive adjustments Keatts made in the locker room seemed to have worked, as the Pack reduced Wake’s field goal percentage to a mere 38.5% after the break. The Deacons also shot an underwhelming 20% from 3 in the second frame. All in all, NC State scored 90 points in the game, an offensive barrage, with 38 coming in the second half.

On a night of decisive victory for the Wolfpack, one glaring issue looking ahead is the injury to graduate guard Jack Clark, who went down hard on his shoulder after a fast-break dunk and was forced to the locker room. Clark later returned to this sideline in a sling, and his status for the remainder of the regular season remains unclear. Contributing key minutes to the rotation since his return from a previous injury, losing him for any amount of time creates another problem to be solved by Keatts.

The Pack returns to action on Saturday, Feb. 25 at noon in PNC Arena, where the Clemson Tigers come to town in NC State’s second-to-last game of regular season play. For live updates on this matchup and coverage of all things NC State Athletics, make sure to follow @TechSports on Twitter.