D.J. Burns Jr. scored 31 points and made free throws to snap a late tie as North Carolina State rallied for a 79-77 road victory against Wake Forest on Saturday in Winston-Salem, N.C.
The Wolfpack (17-5, 7-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) won despite shooting 8-for-17 from the free-throw line.
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Jarkel Joiner had 17 points, including a pair of free throws with 11 seconds left that supplied a five-point edge for North Carolina State. Terquavion Smith poured in 16 points for the Wolfpack.
Burns was 14-for-26 from the field and grabbed nine rebounds. Teammate Greg Gantt had 10 boards.
Damari Monsanto scored 22 points and Tyree Appleby added 18 for Wake Forest (14-8, 6-5), which has lost three in a row for the first time since the 2020-21 season. Andrew Carr had 14 points and Cameron Hildreth added 12 points.
Wake Forest was 18-for-22 on free throws but shot just 7-for-21 from 3-point range.
Burns broke a tie with two foul shots at the 1:22 mark. Carr’s 3 in the waning seconds accounted for the final points.
Wake Forest led 43-33 early in the second half, but the Wolfpack pulled even at 62-62 on Joiner’s 3-point basket with 6 1/2 minutes to play. That gave Joiner seven points in slightly more than two minutes.
It became a 19-6 run for NC State, which built a 70-66 lead. That was part of a span when the Wolfpack made 11 of 12 shots from the field.
Wake Forest stayed close by making five of six free-throw attempts during a 44-second stretch, so the Demon Deacons trailed 72-71.
Wake Forest led 37-31 at halftime, with Appleby and Monsanto accounting for 26 of the points.
NC State stayed within range despite shooting 33.3 percent from the field. The Demon Deacons held an 11-1 scoring edge in free throws at the break.
–Field Level Media
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