Greensboro, NC – Terquavion Smith scored 30 points on 11-for-13 shooting and Jarkel Joiner had a double-double and sixth-seed North Carolina State beat No. 11-seed Virginia Tech 97-77 on Wednesday night in an SEC Tournament opener.
The Wolfpack will play third-seed Clemson on Thursday.
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Smith finished four points shy of tying his career high and finished one field goal short of tying his career high of most field goals made in a game. Joiner scored 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Jack Clark and Ebenezer Dowuona each scored 11 for the Wolfpack (23-9).
Reserve Rodney Rice scored 17 with five 3-pointers, Justyn Mutts scored 15 points and Grant Basile 11 for the Hokies (19-14).
North Carolina State never trailed and was never threatened as it built a 16-7 lead in the first five minutes.
The Wolfpack started out shooting 12 for 17 - including 5 for 7 from 3 - while the Hokies went the other direction and made just 4 of 16 including 1 for 5 from 3-point range. Casey Morsell’s 3 with 8:16 before halftime gave North Carolina State a 31-16 lead.
North Carolina State led 53-26 at intermission shooting 63.6%, including 53.8% from distance, with the only shooting blemish being a 4-for-8 effort at the foul line.
VIRGINIA TECH (19-14)
Basile 4-7 3-4 11, Mutts 6-10 3-4 15, Cattoor 3-10 2-2 9, Collins 1-4 0-0 2, Pedulla 3-10 0-0 9, Kidd 3-4 0-0 6, Rice 5-7 2-2 17, Poteat 1-1 6-7 8, Camden 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 26-54 16-19 77.
NC STATE (23-9)
Burns 1-2 1-2 3, Gantt 2-2 0-0 4, Joiner 8-15 2-2 20, Morsell 2-7 1-2 6, Smith 11-13 3-5 30, Dowuona 5-7 1-1 11, Clark 5-8 0-0 11, Pass 2-4 0-0 6, Ross 2-4 0-0 4, Thomas 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 39-63 8-12 97.
Halftime_NC State 53-26. 3-Point Goals_Virginia Tech 9-24 (Rice 5-7, Pedulla 3-6, Cattoor 1-6, Camden 0-1, Collins 0-1, Mutts 0-1, Basile 0-2), NC State 11-24 (Smith 5-7, Pass 2-3, Joiner 2-4, Clark 1-4, Morsell 1-5, Ross 0-1). Fouled Out_Clark. Rebounds_Virginia Tech 20 (Mutts 5), NC State 30 (Smith 8). Assists_Virginia Tech 14 (Pedulla 4), NC State 19 (Joiner 10). Total Fouls_Virginia Tech 13, NC State 19. A_17,685 (23,500).