NC State basketball bounces back in a big way, beats Coppin State in Heritage Game
N.C. State’s basketball game Tuesday at Reynolds Coliseum was about cherishing the past, focusing on the present, and preparing for what’s to come.
It was the annual Heritage Game for the men’s team, and the Pack earned a 94-72 victory over Coppin State.
After losing its ACC opener Friday, shooting poorly in a 68-60 home-court loss to Pitt, the Pack (8-2) took a quick liking to the cozier confines of Reynolds. Terquavion Smith had 19 of his 33 points in the opening half and Jarkel Joiner 14 of his 29.
There was a scary moment for the Wolfpack. Center Dusan Mahorcic suffered an injury to his right knee with 12:41 left in the second half and had to be helped off the court. The extent of the injury was not immediately known after the game by NCSU coach Kevin Keatts.
The game had a retro, nostalgic feel to it. The Wolfpack wore replicas of the jerseys worn in 1983 — “S-T-A-T-E” on the front — when N.C. State made its inspirational run to the national championship.
“It’s not just N.C. State. You could almost make an argument it was America’s team,” Keatts said. “It was a great team with great folks and a great coach.”
Several of the players from the ‘83 Pack were at the game, although a larger reunion will be held in February at PNC Arena.
That was Jim Valvano’s team. It’s now officially James T. Valvano Arena at Reynolds Coliseum, a lasting honor to the man who lived Wolfpack basketball and died in 1993 after his fight against cancer.
Valvano once worked the Reynolds sideline, arms flailing and coat tails flying. Before him was Norman Sloan, another championship coach who barked out orders and glared at opponents — and a few referees. After Valvano was Les Robinson, always is his red sweater, then the more taciturn Herb Sendek, who often stood at the end of the bench, arms crossed.
Keatts stays in motion in front of the Wolfpack bench. He paces, yells, he grimaces, he scolds, he cajoles.
This game, everything began the way he wanted. Joiner hit his first 3. Casey Morsell hit a 3. And soon Smith was at it, finding the openings, knocking down shots as the Pack raced to leads of 34-15 and 40-15.
“Ir was a great atmosphere in here,” Smith said. “I like Reynolds better than PNC (Arena) because it’s smaller and it’s louder in here. The fans are closer and everyone interacts better at Reynolds.”
Smith missed his first 3-pointer, then made his next five in the opening half. Knocked to the floor as he launched a 3-pointer from the deep right corner, he was fouled and turned it into a four-point play midway through the half.
“Terquavion Smith was a pro’s pro tonight,” Keatts said. “I think he did a little bit of everything. He defended, he scored the basketball, he really passed the basketball.”
Joiner was coming off an 0-for-12 shooting game against Pitt. But he had the range Tuesday, whether from outside or driving the lane. He had some bounce in his game and did not let up on defense.
“I thought our guards were really special tonight,” Keatts said. “It was really good to see Jarkel Joiner bounce back after not having a great game against Pitt.
“We didn’t play well in the Pitt game. We wanted to come in here and have a better showing and play well on both ends of the floor.”
Joiner opened the second half with a 3 and kept shooting. He hit a twisting shot in the lane, exchanged a few hand slaps with fans at courtside, then returned to make the free throw for a 3-point play.
“It was fun. The atmosphere was crazy,” Joiner said.
Coppin State (4-7), with Penn State transfer guard Sam Sessoms scoring 24 points, trimmed the Wolfpack lead to 10 points in the final eight minutes of the game, pressuring the Pack to execute. The Pack did as Joiner and Smith made shots and forward Jack Clark claimed some big rebounds -- Clark had a team-high 10 plus three steals.
The Wolfpack goes to Miami on Saturday for its second ACC game, but now could be without Mahorcic for an extended period, depending on the severity of his injury.
