Six triples from Jack Clark leads NC State past Puerto Rico
NC State men’s basketball might be on vacation, but the program was still prepared for a physical battle on the court Tuesday afternoon. After trailing by nine at half time to Puerto Rico’s national team, the Wolfpack stormed back to pull off a 81-69 win.
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Jack Clark was the story of the game and maybe the entire preseason. The transfer wing registered his second-consecutive double-double, finishing the matchup with 24 points and 11 rebounds to pace the team in both areas.
During his first matchup in the Bahamas, Clark scored 12 points and pulled down 13 rebounds. He led the team in boards in both games. The wing showed a willingness and ability to rebound in the first outing and then took on a scoring role in the second showdown of the trip.
The transfer from La Salle recorded three double-doubles last year with his former team and has a career high of 13. His scoring burst Tuesday was the product of six three pointers— a good sign for the Wolfpack after he shot 30 percent from deep last year.
After star sophomore guard Terquavion Smith left Tuesday’s game with a cramp according to a tweet from men’s basketball director of communications Craig Hammel, Clark stepped up as a scorer as well.
“Jack Clark at 6-8, 6-9 is kind of a three/four,” Keatts said in a press conference last week. He can really shoot the ball outside and do some stuff at that position.”
Clark grabbed six of his rebounds and scored eight points in a 18-18 first quarter. Puerto Rico then pulled away and led 41-32 at halftime. Hammel tweeted that Puerto Rico played a physical game in the second quarter, leading to foul trouble for NC State. The Wolfpack trailed in the free throw count 5-20 and Clark recorded three fouls in the period.
Jarkel Joiner was instrumental as a distributor and a scorer for the Pack, finishing the matchup with 16 points and five assists while continuing to show promise after transferring from Ole Miss.
“[Joiner] has really meshed well with his new teammates,” NC State assistant coach Levi Watkins said in July. “He’s just that kind of personality, and I feel really good about this group, not just Jarkel or Terquavion, but they all have worked really hard.”
Casey Morsell also finished the game with 11 points. After Smith left the game, NC State closed out the victory on a 29-12 run. The win is another step towards the 2022-2023 season featuring a new-look Wolfpack.
“We wanted to go out there and get bigger, stronger and older, and I think we did,” Keatts said during a June press conference.
