CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. — N.C. State’s Jarkel Joiner has his shooting touch back, and the Wolfpack has its winning touch back.
The No. 22 Pack rebounded Saturday from a frustrating loss at Virginia with a 92-62 victory over Boston College at Conte Forum, building a 12-point lead in the first half and not letting up in the second.
Joiner, after miserable shooting games against Georgia Tech and Virginia, had 26 points as the Wolfpack earned its 20th win of the season and 10th in the ACC. He drained five 3-pointers as the Pack knocked down 15 of 30 from the arc.
Add in 18 points and 10 rebounds from D.J. Burns, 17 points from Terquavion Smith and 16 from Casey Morsell and the Pack (20-6, 10-5 ACC) had an easy day against Boston College (12-14, 6-9), which was coming off a solid road win at Virginia Tech.
“We were locked in from the beginning,” NCSU coach Kevin Keatts said. “It was one of those games where we played well on both ends, offensively and defensively, and it showed today. Our guys played with energy. They played with pace.”
Smith had 14 first-half points as the Pack took a 44-32 lead. The sophomore guard reached the 1,000-point mark for his career — always a milestone — with a 3-pointer early in the second half, and later received the ceremonial postgame water “shower” from his teammates.
Morsell also drained five 3-pointers and Smith three as the Wolfpack was on point from the 3-point line Saturday. The Pack, moving the ball well, shot 55.2% overall from the field as Joiner and Smith each had six assists.
“When we’re shooting the ball like that and we’re playing together we can be really tough offensively,” Keatts said. “Just so many guys played well. D.J. with a double-double, Casey made some good shots.”
Another plus for the Pack: Forward Jack Clark was able to play and contribute.
Clark was injured late in the Wolfpack’s loss at Clemson on Dec. 30, sitting out game after game. But he was ready Saturday, entering the game in the first half and hitting a pair of 3s in the second half, finishing with six points and five rebounds in nine minutes.
BC center Quinten Post had 20 points to top the Eagles, 16 in the first half. Post, a load down low, hit seven of eight shots in the opening half but had just three shots after halftime.
Keatts said the Pack wanted to play fast and control the pace and got his wish much of the day.
“We pushed the ball,” Keatts said. “We were active. We got 19 points out of transition, which is good for us.”
Joiner and Smith each missed their first shots of the game but didn’t stop shooting and soon were making them. They were feeling it Saturday.
Joiner had five-point games against Georgia Tech and Virginia, missing 17 of his 20 shots and going 2 for 12 on 3-pointers. He was playing a lot of minutes, and it appeared the grind of the ACC season might be taking a toll.
The point guard, playing with some pep Saturday, knocked down three 3s in the opening half. He came out in the second and hit another couple of 3s — one in a fast break that gave the Pack a 57-36 lead four minutes into the second half.
Moments later, Joiner was flying down court again on the break, scoring on a reverse layup for a 23-point lead. A little later, he darted down the lane for a basket and 3-point play for a 67-44 lead.
“Nothing was different for me today. I’m always confident,” Joiner said. “I wasn’t worried. I’ve put too much work in. I got it going and my teammates kept finding me, and I made some open shots.”
Against Virginia, the Cavaliers’ defense was so sound it made the Pack look disjointed, ineffective. But the Wolfpack also was not happy with its defense in the game against No. 8 Virginia, responding by forcing 17 turnovers Saturday.
“We wanted to bounce back and get back to defending the way we know we can defend,” Joiner said.
The Eagles are a good defensive team, but this was a day when Smith and Joiner were back to playing much of the season. Burns got his points. Morsell got his.
Burns had a good offensive start Saturday, picking up 10 points in the first 10 minutes. But after picking up a second foul, he sat out the rest of the first half.
Post had 16 points in the opening half as Keatts first had Greg Gantt matched up against the big man, then tried Burns, Ernest Ross and Ebe Dowuona at times on the 7-footer.
Post, who transferred to BC from Mississippi State, had a foot injury in preseason that kept him out the first 13 games. But since joining the lineup, the native of the The Netherlands has averaged nearly 17 points a game.
“One of the things we wanted to do coming into the game was we knew Post was really good, but we didn’t want him to hurt us in two different ways, in the paint and also from 3,” Keatts said. “We did a good job defending him.”
