Clemson basketball clobbers NC State in Wolfpack’s last home game of season, 96-71

Playing Clemson is a lot like playing Virginia.

Every possession seems like a war. It’s a test of wills, requiring patience, toughness, relentless defense and sound execution for 40 minutes.

So it went Saturday. And if it was a war, Clemson won it handily, cruising to a 96-71 victory.

The Wolfpack (22-8, 12-7 ACC) has rarely been outplayed and out-toughed in a game this season. But it was against Clemson, which put the Pack in a vise early, led by 25 points at halftime and never let up on the pressure.

Brevin Galloway had 28 points, P.J. Hall 20 and Chase Hunter 15 for the Tigers (21-8, 13-5), who were hardly bothered by the Wolfpack’s defense, getting the shots they wanted and shooting 59.6% from the field.

D.J. Burns had 24 points for the Pack, but the big man did not get much help. Jarkel Joiner had 16 points and Terquavion Smith 10 -- the two guards going a combined 7-for-29 from the field -- in what might have been their last game at PNC Arena.

“Clemson was clicking on both ends of the floor,” NCSU coach Kevin Keatts said. “This team hasn’t been the team that gives up 96 points. Clemson hasn’t been the team to score 96 points. It was one of those days where they saw a big rim and made shots and early on we didn’t establish ourselves defensively.

“Disappointed. This team has been really good all year long. We’ve had a couple of games where I didn’t think we defended and one of them was today. The other thing is, we didn’t have the same pop we normally have.”

At halftime, the Tigers led 54-29 – on a court where the Wolfpack had lost just once this season and was celebrating “Senior Day” before a sellout crowd. Clemson shot 62% in the half, going 8-of-14 on 3-pointers.

Photos: NC State vs Clemson in college basketball action

Keatts had a technical in the first half. He used timeouts. He loudly demanded better play in the team huddles.

Nothing worked. Joiner hit a few outside shots and Burns a few inside, but that was it for the Wolfpack, which could not stop the Clemson offense.

“It just wasn’t our night,” Smith said. “But we fought to the end, which is what Coach asked us to do.”

Galloway and Hall accounted for 36 of the Clemson points in the Tigers’ dominating and decisive first half. Galloway, averaging 11 points a game, had 20, knocking down four 3-pointers.

At one point, Galloway easily dribbled past Smith for a layup, Keatts quickly ordering up a timeout and pulling Smith – who had two fouls – from the game.

Hall is a 6-foot-10, 245-pound warrior and had to be Saturday in battling Burns, an inch shorter but 30 pounds heavier. The two heavyweights went at it, banging inside, and Hall had Pack fans howling mad in the first half when he fell backward and hit the deck in drawing an offensive foul on Burns.

But Hall was a tough matchup. He had 16 of his points in the first half, making seven of nine shots including a couple of 3s.

Hall started the game by making a 3-pointer over Burns from the top of key, then a turnaround shot inside against Burns. So it went.

Burns had 11 first-half points, but Smith missed nine of his 11 shots as the Pack shot 37.5% from the field.

Clemson had a six-point possession in the first half. Galloway hit a 3 and was fouled by Smith. Keatts argued the call, drawing the technical, Hunter Tyson hit the two technical free throws for Clemson and Galloway finished up with a foul shot.

It was 19-6, Clemson, and it did not get any better for the Wolfpack as the lead grew to 35-15 and 42-22. The Tigers twice led by 30 in the second half.

After the embarrassing loss, the Pack finishes up the regular season Tuesday at Duke. The Blue Devils took an embarrassing beating from the Wolfpack at PNC Arena in early January.

“We all know how good we are and we’ve just got to have a short memory,” Pack senior Casey Morsell said.