CHAPEL HILL —The NC State men’s basketball team lost its second straight game to rival North Carolina Tuesday night, falling to the Tar Heels 85-79 inside Dean Smith Center. Fresh off back-to-back strong performances against No. 6 Duke and No. 8 Florida State, the Wolfpack fell flat in Chapel Hill. Here are some key numbers from NC State’s loss.
6 — Minutes played by redshirt junior guard Devon Daniels in the first half. The reigning ACC Player of the Week picked up his second foul of the game at the 13:27 mark and immediately checked out of the game. He never checked back in, as NC State head coach Kevin Keatts made sure Daniels could go full throttle in the final 20 minutes.
14 — Free throws made by UNC forward Garrison Brooks, more than the Wolfpack’s 13 total attempts from the line. As a team, the Tar Heels attempted 31 free throws, making 22 of them.
13 — Offensive rebounds hauled in by North Carolina. In a mirror image of the first game against its Tobacco Road rivals, the Wolfpack was thoroughly dominated on the glass, struggling all game to keep the Tar Heels’ bigs off the boards.
59 — Shooting percentage on 2-point attempts by NC State. Despite its success inside the arc, however, the Wolfpack insisted on chucking up 3-pointers at just a 32% clip. NC State shot 25 shots from deep — over 40% of its total shots.
18:40 — Time NC State led in the first half. The Wolfpack jumped out to a 10-0 lead and held it for almost all of the half, yet sloppy play in the final few minutes and a scoreless drought to end the half led to NC State trailing at the break.
4 — Double-doubles on the season for Markell Johnson. The senior guard scored 21 points and dished out 10 assists, as he twice jumped out for eight- and six-point outbursts to start the first and second halves, respectively. He also set up his teammates most of the game, accounting for over 55% of the Wolfpack’s assists.
2 — Wins by North Carolina over NC State and wins by North Carolina over the rest of the ACC combined. Half of the Tar Heels’ four ACC wins have come against the Wolfpack, which they are 2-0 against. The other two wins have come with a 2-13 record against the ACC’s teams outside of Raleigh.
