Poor shooting, costly turnovers and foul trouble all played a factor as the NC State men’s basketball team fell to Clemson 78-62 in its first non-tournament away game of the season.

The Wolfpack (10-4, 0-1 ACC) had a sluggish shooting performance with 34.8 percent on the night and 14 turnovers that lead to multiple fast break points for the Tigers (12-1, 1-0 ACC). Both teams opened up conference play in the tilt at the Littlejohn Coliseum.

The Wolfpack was lead by standout freshman guard Braxton Beverly who made six of his nine shots and recorded 15 points, four rebounds and three assists. Sophomore center Omer Yurtseven recorded a double-double with 12 points, 10 rebounds and an impressive five blocks.

After leading the game 16-10 with about nine minutes remaining in the half, NC State collapsed to let Clemson go on a 23-8 streak to end the half with a score of 33-24 advantage for the Tigers. The Wolfpack was unable to build off a slow defensive start for the Tigers by shooting an awful 27.3 percent from the field.

Turnovers continued to plague the Pack in the second half as the team was beat in transition several times throughout the game. This lead to several fast-break points off of turnovers. The Tigers were also able to capitalize on the 15 fouling errors of the Wolfpack by making over 86.7 percent of their free throws.

Coming into the game leading the Wolfpack in scoring with an average of 15.5 points a contest, graduate guard Allerik Freeman struggled mightily against the Tigers. Although he managed a respectable 14 points, Freeman made only five of his 19 shots, including only 2 of 11 from 3-point territory and committed a game-high four turnovers.

Beverly was the only NC State player to hit consistently from behind the arc, going 3 for 5 as the Wolfpack gained no traction on deep shots, going only 22.7 percent on 3-pointers.

The Tigers took advantage of better ball movement than its competitor with 17 assists and finished with five players in double-digit points. Although the Pack outrebounded Clemson 45 to 40, the Tigers held the advantage in almost every statistical category.

The Wolfpack will remain on the road for its next matchup against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Jan. 3.