Tigers keep Wolfpack at arm’s length: 3 takeaways from NC State’s home loss to Clemson

N.C. State had plenty of opportunities, but it couldn’t capitalize. The story of the season. It played locked-in defense for most of the afternoon, including a seven-minute scoring drought when Clemson missed nine straight shots, and held the Tigers below their season scoring average of 77 points. Except, as usual, N.C. State’s offense couldn’t get going.

Hunter, Lakhin lead Clemson to win at NC State

Chase Hunter scored 20 points, Viktor Lakhin added a double-double, and Clemson pulled away late to beat NC State 68-58 on Saturday in Raleigh.

NC State led 9-4 early, but a 15-5 Clemson run gave the Tigers a 19-14 lead at the 9:41 mark of the first half. A tight game ensued for the rest of the half, with the Tigers hanging onto a 34-31 advantage heading into halftime.

Clemson stretched its lead to seven early in the second half, but an 8-0 NC State run gave the Wolfpack a 39-38 lead with 14:16 remaining. The Tigers countered with seven straight points, however, and a Lakhin 3-pointer gave them a 51-43 lead at the under-8 timeout.

Dontrez Styles made two 3-pointers over the next two minutes for the Wolfpack — he made a career-high six on the afternoon — but Clemson countered with enough baskets to maintain a sufficient lead.

Following consecutive made field goals by NC State, the Tigers lead was just six with under four minutes to play. From there, the Hunter brothers closed out the contest. Dillon Hunter buried a 3-pointer, and Chase Hunter followed that up with a steal and dunk to put the game out of reach.

Styles led NC State with 24 points, but nobody else scored in double-figures. Lakhin scored 13 points and pulled down 11 rebounds, and Chauncey Wiggins added 11 points for Clemson. When Wiggins plays well, the Tigers are near unbeatable.

Immediately following Clemson’s win, Louisville at Georgia Tech came on the CW. Louisville had an early double-digit lead, but a huge offensive second half by the Jackets gave them the upset win which now puts the 10-1 Clemson Tigers in sole possession of second place in the conference.

The Tigers host Georgia Tech on Tuesday night. If they win that and then beat Duke in Littlejohn Coliseum on Saturday, they will be in first place with either a tie-breaker or a tie-breaker and one-game lead over the Blue Devils.