NC State comes back in victory over Wake Forest

RALEIGH, N.C.- The North Carolina State Wolfpack snatched the lead in the last minutes to take down the Wake Forest Demon Deacons 83-76 in the PNC Arena on Tuesday. 

The arena was rather quiet through the first half as the Pack trailed the whole first half. Wake Forest went on a 10-2 run, in the midst of a NC State drought, to extend its lead midway through the first half. 

The Pack had multiples fouls closing in on the first half that allowed Wake Forest to score 10 points off free throws. 

NC State struggled on defense and allowed four three-pointers throughout the first half to its zero. 

Head coach Kevin Keatts was ejected from the game with 3:32 left in the first half after two technical calls. Kareem Richardson took over for the remainder of the game. 

NC State went on a 6-0 run to close the score 55-49 and bring its deficit to six approaching the 10:00 minute mark. 

Despite allowing Wake Forest to continue to extend its lead, the Pack went on another run of 18-9 to bring the score 64-61 with 5:24 remaining. 

Due to forced turnovers, Casey Morsell put the Pack over the Demon Deacons 71-69 with 2:05 left. 

NC State sealed the 83-76 victory with a series of fouls. 

DJ Burns missed the second half due to an illness while Ben Middlebrooks was ejected from the game.

Despite the comeback win, NC State won without scoring a three-point shot.

NC State struggled with making shots and turnovers throughout the whole game. Wake Forest was able to score 12 points off those turnovers and had a huge advantage with multiple fouls called against NC State. 

The Pack was able to rack up 10 steals. However, they recorded 20 fouls that resulted in 12 points for the Demon Deacons.  

” I’m telling you now, we ain’t gone get pushed around. It’s just not gone happen,” head coach Kevin Keatts said when discussing the recent attitude of the players and coaching staff.

NC State returns to action on Saturday, January 20 when they host Virginia Tech in a noon matchup in PNC Arena.