CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — It’s hard to win a basketball game when your opponent shoots 39 free throws and you only shoot 12.
That’s what happened to the NC State men’s basketball team in its 80-69 loss to North Carolina.
The Wolfpack (15-5, 5-4 ACC) actually made six more shots from the field than the Tar Heels (14-6, 6-3 ACC) but committed 11 more fouls and lost the rebounding battle 42-27.
“I’ve never been involved in a game where a team has taken 39 free throws,” said head coach Kevin Keatts. “If we get a little more aggressive, then possibly a different game. … Just a tough one — it’s a physical game.”
Adding insult to injury, NC State lost its best player, sophomore guard Terquavion Smith, to an injury midway through the second half.
Smith was going up for a layup when he was fouled in midair by UNC’s Leaky Black and went down on the court hard. He stayed on the court for several minutes before being stretchered off and taken to the hospital for what the team later announced to be an elbow and neck injury.
“It was obviously a dirty play,” said senior guard Casey Morsell. “It wasn’t the game — we have to do a better job on the defensive end and get better shots on the offensive end, but it was unnecessary.”
It’s always tough for a team to see one of its own go down, especially someone as good as Smith, but for as long as he was on the floor and the severity of his injury, it must have been extremely difficult for his teammates.
“It hurt us because he’s our brother — we love him,” said graduate guard Jarkel Joiner. “He’s a great dude. It hurts mentally because he smiles a lot in the locker room, and he’s just a great kid.”
Although evident early on that UNC was going to be getting a majority of the calls, it was anybody’s game at halftime. The Pack had led by as many as eight in the first half, but the Heels used a 12-0 run to take the lead and held onto it at the break with a 34-33 advantage.
Going into the game, the key matchup was down low between graduate forward DJ Burns and UNC’s star big man Armando Bacot. Burns led the Pack with nine points at halftime and only had one foul to his name, but Bacot came out of the break with the intention of getting Burns in foul trouble. He accomplished his mission — Burns picked up two more fouls just over a minute into the second half.
UNC’s points came almost exclusively from Bacot to begin the second frame as he scored 10 of the team’s first 11 points. Given that almost everyone else on the team had two or more fouls, Keatts was forced to play Burns, and his jumper with about 15 minutes to go made it 45-44, the closest the Pack would get the rest of the night.
The Heels went on an 8-0 run, half of those points coming from the foul line to take a 53-44 lead, and a few minutes went on another 7-0 run, all of which came from the line to take a 13-point lead, their largest of the night.
Down the stretch, the Pack’s only offense seemed to be either Burns or Joiner, but without Smith, the team had little chance of mounting a comeback effort. Meanwhile, the Heels were led by their star trio of Bacot, RJ Davis and Caleb Love, who combined for 65 of the team’s 80 points with Davis scoring 26, Bacot scoring 23 and Love scoring 16 as the team scored 36 of its points from the line.
Burns and Joiner led the Pack with 18 apiece, while Morsell chipped in 12 and Smith also had 12 before his injury. If there’s a silver lining, it’s that despite Smith’s injury, the lopsided free throw margin and playing in a place where the team has had little success, NC State stayed in it until the end.
“I’m proud of our guys through all of the adversity we had in the second half,” Keatts said. “It could have easily been a situation where it was really lopsided. Up until the last four minutes of the game, I thought it was a real game and a winnable game at that point.”
NC State will hope for the best for Smith, while at the same time preparing for its next game back in PNC Arena against Notre Dame on Tuesday, Jan. 24. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.
