Jarkel Joiner tied his season high with 29 points and North Carolina State had its offense in overdrive for most of Wednesday night in a 90-74 victory against visiting Wake Forest at Raleigh, N.C.
D.J. Burns Jr. provided 21 points on 8-for-11 shooting from the field, Terquavion Smith scored 10 of his 13 points in the second half and Casey Morsell added 10 points for NC State (22-7, 12-6 Atlantic Coast Conference), which swept the regular-season series from the Demon Deacons.
The Wolfpack shot 58.1 percent from the floor, aided by Joiner’s 12-for-20. He had three of the team’s eight 3-point baskets.
Tyree Appleby posted 19 points, and Cameron Hildreth and Andrew Carr both had 13 points for Wake Forest (17-11, 9-8).
Damari Monsanto scored nine first-half points for Wake Forest, but he exited shortly before halftime with a knee injury. NC State’s Jack Clark left early in the second half after falling to the court following a dunk, suffering a shoulder injury.
Barely more than three minutes into the second half, Wake Forest committed three turnovers and the Wolfpack built its lead to 60-50.
Wake Forest was within 70-62 before Joiner’s 3-pointer followed by a 2-point jumper pushed the edge to 75-62 at the six-minute mark.
The teams put together offensive highlights in the first half, which ended with NC State holding a 52-46 lead. Joiner had 18 points and Burns had 14 points at the break.
Wake Forest made 10 of its last 11 shots from the field.
The Wolfpack used a 15-4 run to go up 39-33. By halftime, N.C. State was shooting 67.7 percent (21-for-31) from the field, overshadowing Wake Forest’s 65.4 percent (17-for-26).
The Demon Deacons were 9-for-15 on first-half 3-pointers, but seven turnovers proved costly.
NC State did all this first-half scoring despite Smith, the team’s scoring leader, sitting out a large chunk of time after picking up two fouls. He had three points and took just one shot from the field.
There was such good shooting in the first half that the teams combined for only 20 rebounds.
–Field Level Media
