It’s no secret that the backcourt duo of sophomore Terquavion Smith and graduate student Jarkel Joiner have been electric to watch so far this season. It goes beyond making flashy passes, sinking 3s and filling up the statsheet, however.

From distributing the ball to toppling monumental opponents and taking over games all by themselves when need be, the red-and-white’s dynamic duo is just what the doctor ordered to revive the NC State men’s basketball team after a dismal 2021-22 season. 

Smith and Joiner aren’t just putting the ACC on notice with their play, however. The red-and-white’s backcourt duo is transforming the way NC State plays basketball.

Sharing the wealth 

Perhaps the biggest asset that NC State’s new dynamic duo brings to the table is their willingness to share the ball. It’s safe to say that their role as distributors and passers alone has changed NC State’s style of basketball. In the 2021-22 season, NC State’s offense averaged 11.3 assists per game — nearly dead last in the ACC at 14th. Now with Smith and Joiner running the show in 22-23, that number has skyrocketed to 14.3 APG, good for 7th in the ACC and only 0.3 APG away from cracking the top three teams in this category. 

The big difference here is that last season’s squad just didn’t have enough distributors to spread the wealth around effectively, and therefore, score more effectively. In 21-22, guard Dereon Seabron averaged 3.2 APG, leading the team in this category and landing him at 14th in the ACC. This season, however, NC State’s duo are both within the top-12 of assists per game leaders in the conference. 

Smith, who already had nearly unlimited scoring potential on his own, has quietly added a focus on passing to his repertoire. Last season, he ranked 40th in the ACC with 2.1 APG. This year, the sophomore has flipped the script, averaging 4.8 APG, good for fifth in the ACC. Meanwhile, Joiner is contributing a more-than-solid 3.5 APG, landing him at 15th in the ACC. 

This transition to a passing-focused offense has undoubtedly paid dividends this season for the Wolfpack. NC State has already eclipsed its win total of the previous season of 11. Now with 13 wins and counting, this concerted effort to pass from Smith and Joiner have put the red-and-white in a position to not only compete with the best teams in the ACC, but beat them. 

Blue Devil beatdown

Smith and Joiner were able to deliver in the Pack’s biggest game all season — a dominating 84-60 rout of the Duke Blue Devils in PNC Arena. While performing well against a handful of nonconference opponents, Duke presented NC State with its first real test at PNC Arena, and the pair helped NC State pass with high marks. 

Combining for 45 total points and nine assists, Smith and Joiner were unrelenting in their aggressive approach against the Blue Devils. Making sure to keep their foot on the gas until it was all but over, NC State’s most important players came through when it was needed the most. While the jury’s still out on them replicating this performance night-in-night out against the ACC’s other challenging opponents, Smith and Joiner have done it before on the biggest stage and are sure to do it again. 

Takeover mode

The pair showed that they were able to completely take over against one of the best teams in college basketball, but they’ve been dominating games for the entire season.

When he returned for the 2022-23 season, everyone expected Smith to replicate and expand upon his raw scoring ability that he displayed in the previous year, and he hasn’t disappointed thus far. Leading the team in scoring, Smith has clearly become the number one option for NC State. The sophomore has recorded six 20-plus point games this season, exploded for a season-high 33 points and hasn’t had a single-digit scoring game so far. If that’s not trajectory-changing play for the NC State men’s basketball team, what is?

Even when not scoring 20+ points each, the backcourt duo is unrelenting in their scoring contributions. Smith, who already is fourth in the ACC in APG, ranks second in scoring with 18.6 in PPG. The sophomore is already nipping at North Carolina’s Armando Bacot’s heels for first place in the ACC with 18.8 PPG, and a few more big nights from Smith may move him to number one in this category. 

Once again, Joiner falls in line right behind Smith, averaging 16.3 PPG, good for 12th in the ACC. As a transfer guard, Joiner is the front runner for breakout player of the year for this team and was perhaps the most pivotal offseason addition by head coach Kevin Keatts to this team.

Like Smith, the grad student can also take over games and is lethal from behind the arc. Joiner has the ability to explode in games and go on some dangerous scoring streaks, using his soft touch at the rim or sharpshooting skills to score in a variety of ways. In addition, he leads the team in 25-plus point games with four and recorded a season-high 29 points against Coppin State, putting on a show in the team’s annual heritage game in Reynolds Coliseum. 

After recently paving the way for a close, yet nonetheless impressive win on the road against Virginia Tech, Smith and Joiner continue to pioneer a new era of NC State men’s basketball, one that uses a talented backcourt to dictate and dominate games. Passing the ball, taking down big-time opponents and relentless scoring by these two have proven that NC State is a force to be reckoned with this year in the ACC, and it doesn’t look like the Pack’s dynamic backcourt duo is stopping anytime soon.