ACC Basketball: Takeaways from Day 2 of conference tournament action

SOUTH BEND, INDIANA - FEBRUARY 22: Armando Bacot #5 of the North Carolina Tar Heels high fives teammates against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish during the first half at Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center on February 22, 2023 in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) /

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ACC Basketball North Carolina State Wolfpack guard Terquavion Smith Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports /

NC State’s ceiling is sky high

This isn’t brand-new information. But entering the ACC Tournament on a two-game losing streak, one of which being an annihilation at the hands of Clemson, it was fair to question if the Wolfpack should be considered a legit threat in the month of March.

Virginia Tech has struggled defensively all season long, and State absolutely punished them for that. The Wolfpack stretched out a 27-point lead by halftime on their way to a 97-77 win over the Hokies. The dynamic backcourt of Terquavion Smith and Jarkel Joiner combined for 50 points, 15 rebounds, 13 assists, and just one turnover in a dominant performance. Smith shot a red-hot 11-13 from the field and 5-7 from long range, his best shooting performance since the beginning of February.

I got rinsed by NC State fans on twitter for leaving Smith off of my All-ACC ballot, which I did because of his extremely poor shooting numbers during league play. Smith shot 34.4% from the field during conference play and only shot over 50% from the field in one ACC game (Jan. 17 at Georgia Tech).

Guard play wins in March, and when Smith and Joiner push the pace and settle into a rhythm, man this team is tough to stop. Throw in a dominant post scorer in DJ Burns, who only scored three points in 16 minutes in this one, and the Wolfpack boast a big three that can give teams nightmares.

Clemson has owned NC State this year, and the Tigers will look to silence the “it’s hard to beat a team three times” narrative in the nightcap of the ACC Quarters. Clemson’s older, physical guards have done a great job on Smith and Joiner so far this year, so we’ll see if they can do it once more.

NC State has the juice to scare some elite teams in the NCAA Tournament. The x-factor is the efficiency of the guards, especially Smith, for the Wolfpack to be their best. The college basketball world caught a glimpse Wednesday night of how special this team can be when everything is clicking.