NC State looked at itself during its open week, it paid off in comeback win at Clemson

CLEMSON, S.C. — In the seven days leading up to NC State’s open week, the Wolfpack could not close games. It fell to Pittsburgh by 3 with free throw woes, and it had a chance to take the lead with less than 30 seconds to go at Wake Forest but graduate guard DJ Horne’s go-ahead jumper fell short. 

Those losses allowed NC State to do some searching within itself without a midweek contest. The Wolfpack had an opportunity to go back to the basics and rely on what is most important to the team: its values — accountability, relentless, toughness, together. 

A.R.T.T. as Wolfpack coach Kevin Keatts calls it. 

NC State has them all over the Dail Basketball Center. They’re easy to spot too. Those words are prominent on the wall of the Wolfpack’s film room on the first floor of the building, a place that the team spent time this week looking to find a way to get on the right side of a one-possession game. 

The biggest issue at the end of those two games before? Late-game execution. That was a focus for the red and white leading up to a key matchup at Clemson. Though it didn’t seem like NC State was going to close the game at Clemson, it found a way. 

After NC State led by as many as 10 in the first half, Clemson went on a 20-4 run between the end of the opening half and the first four minutes of the final period. But the Wolfpack was able to hang around. NC State cut the lead in pieces, and by the final minute, it was a one-possession game. 

But this time, a clutch runner from Horne, who used a screen by Clemson transfer Ben Middlebrooks, gave the Wolfpack a 78-77 victory at Littlejohn Coliseum on Saturday night. It marked the first Quad 1 triumph for NC State (16-9, 8-6 ACC), a step in the right direction for the red and white.

“This team’s got a lot of fight,” Keatts said in the back hallway of the arena, still smiling from the win. “Our fight is real with these guys, and they believe in one another. I thought it was one of those things, this week we focused on being the best version of ourselves, and I thought we were.”

The Wolfpack’s week of practice showed in the second half at Clemson. NC State did not panic in any huddle when it seemed like the Tigers were going to pull away. They were calm and collected.

Horne, who scored 27 points and the would-be game-winner, said the team knew what it had to do in the second half. 

“We just knew that we weren’t going to win the whole game in one possession,” Horne said. “We had to keep chopping wood. I think we did that down the stretch and focused in on each possession, and treated it like it was our last.”

Focus was a key piece of NC State’s internal breakdown of itself. It went hand-in-hand with the team’s late-game execution and both were there against the Tigers. 

Keatts, who called two timeouts in the final minute of the game to set his squad up, saw that piece of this past week’s practices come to fruition when it mattered most. 

“I just think our focus was there,” Keatts said. “We could easily have 10 wins. I thought we had too many focus breakdowns at the end of games, and I thought for the first time, we got these guys to lock in and execute and they did.”

The game could have gone the way the previous two went for NC State. Hang around with a good opponent, but not have enough in crunch time to pull it out. Instead the Wolfpack did the opposite, and left Clemson with the win. 

Middlebrooks, who called the victory over his former squad “sweet,” the feeling of being on the positive side of a tight game with a lot on the line is something that he couldn’t beat.

“This is a whole different vibe right now,” Middlebrooks said. “At the end of the day, we put in a lot of work. We had a whole week with no games, really put a lot of work in. We put a lot of focus in this game and it paid off.”

NC State has NCAA Tournament ambitions and the Clemson result is the first step to what the Wolfpack needs a lot more of in its final six regular season games. The team was well-aware that it had faltered in its six previous Quad 1 contests, and it knew it needed one. 

Horne, who had his go-ahead jumper miss the mark at Wake Forest with less than 30 seconds left, said the team played with desperation against the Tigers. And, well, the Wolfpack channeled it in the right way.

“This was, in our eyes, a must-win,” Horne said. “We came out here and got the job done.”

“I think this win right here will just add some fire under us,” Horne added later. “It showed us how good of a team we could be, and really give us more spark for the rest of the season. We get this one, if we get a few more, that tournament talk gets a lot more in our favor.”

Though NC State still wants to play its way into the NCAA Tournament via an at-large bid, the Wolfpack is approaching each game one at a time. Keatts called the final six games a marathon and not a sprint, but it seems like one leg of the race finally went NC State’s way.

But in the end, Keatts made sure to note it does not matter what those outside the program think. 

“This team doesn’t need anyone to believe in them but the guys in the locker room,” Keatts said. “And that’s what they’re doing.”