Mitchell Burleson
Redshirt sophomore guard Torin Dorn charged a Clemson player on his way to the basket on March 7 during the first round of the ACC Tournament. Dorn scored 7 points, but the Pack was defeated, 75-61.
BROOKLYN, NEW YORK — In what was likely head coach Mark Gottfried’s final game coaching NC State men’s basketball, the Wolfpack fell to Clemson, 75-61, Tuesday in the Barclays Center.
The Tigers’ (17-14, 6-12 ACC) bigs dominated the boards and the post, outscoring the Pack (15-17, 4-14 ACC) 40-22 in the paint and winning the rebound battle 42-38, which included 17 offensive boards. State also surrendered 15 turnovers, which ended up turning into 21 points for Clemson. Freshman Dennis Smith Jr. was held to just 7 points on 3 of 12 from the field.
“Dennis never really got going,” Gottfried said. “I thought Clemson did a really good job of packing it in there on him and taking away some driving opportunities from him.”
NC State jumped out to a 5-0 lead but missed its next six shots, opening up a big 15-4 run for Clemson that included 10 unanswered points. The Tigers’ foul-happy play kept the Pack in the game as they committed eight fouls in the half, allowing State to hit 10 of 15 free throws.
Just like the first matchup between the two teams, it started off tightly contested, as Clemson didn’t open larger than a 7-point lead until there was less than three minutes left in the half. However, the Pack lost its steam and the Tigers caught fire, ending the half on a 12-5 run to lead 39-28.
“It was difficult,” redshirt sophomore Torin Dorn said. “Being that we played them close the last game, it was kind of hard to watch them slip away this time. We felt like we had a good chance to come in and have another competitive game and be able to make plays to win it down to the wire.”
The Wolfpack struggled mightily from the floor, shooting just 7 of 21 and turning the ball over 11 times while Clemson shot 16 of 32 at the break. Graduate forward Jaron Blossomgame picked apart the NC State defense, leading all scorers with 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting. The Tigers dominated in the paint, outscoring the Pack 20-4 down low.
“I had high hopes coming into the year,” Smith said. “Everybody had high hopes. The fans did, even us. We didn’t do what we were supposed to do.”
While State failed to cut into the lead to start the second half, the teams went back and forth as the point differential stayed around 10 for the first eight minutes. However, Clemson hit back-to-back 3-pointers to expand the lead to 16 with 10:18 left in the game.
NC State cut the gap back to 12 with layups from Smith and Dorn in attempting to spark a potential comeback. However, the Tigers didn’t bite and never squandered anything less than an 11-point lead.
“[Gottfried] was telling me to keep my head up,” Smith said. “We lost the game, but in a sense, you never want to be defeated. You’ve got things ahead of you, everybody does.”
Both teams had two players lead their respective groups in scoring. Blossomgame tallied a game-high 22 points, while redshirt sophomore Shelton Mitchell put on a clinic at point guard for Clemson with 22 points and six assists. For the Pack, junior Abdul-Malik Abu led the team with 14 points and eight rebounds. Rowan was the only other teammate to join him in double-figures, also tacking on 14. After coaching for the past six seasons, Gottfried will miss NC State and wishes the best for his players.
“It’s sad,” Gottfried said. “I came to NC State hoping to be here for the rest of my career. That was my goal. I look at a lot of these young guys on this team and I wish I was the guy that’s going to get to coach them next year because I think there’s a lot of potential.”
With the team’s early exit from the ACC Tournament and the fact that it didn’t qualify for the NCAA Tournament or even the NIT, it is likely that NC State’s season is over, unless it decides to participate in a smaller tournament such as the Vegas 16. With that being the case, the program’s lone priority will shift over to finding Gottfried’s replacement.