RALEIGH, NC (AP) — Jarkel Joiner took over as No. 23 state North Carolina at a critical second-half point and set his season-high with 29 points to lead the Wolfpack 77-69 past rival North Carolina on Sunday .
Joiner had 20 of his points for the Wolfpack (21-7, 11-6 Atlantic Coast Conference) after the break. That included an impressive excitement in a tight game that finally gave NC State some breathing room.
DJ Burns Jr. added 14 of his 18 points after halftime for NC State, which was 64.5% in the second half and avenged last month’s loss on the road.
Caleb Love scored 20 points and led the Tar Heels (16-11, 8-8) who continued a crash in February that was increasingly threatening their NCAA tournament chances. UNC lost for the fifth time in six games this month after shooting just 35.5%, a feat that couldn’t offset a dominating rebound effort (48-34).
UNC’s home win in January marked 36th in 41 meetings with a rival some 30 minutes’ drive away. In the rematch, two teams fought a close battle in front of a boisterous and testy crowd all afternoon.
Joiner launched the final push that allowed them to unleash a victorious dose of malice even on the tar heels.
His driving scooping reverse layup led to a 64-60 lead, then he buried a Transition 3 from the right in front of the Wolfpack bench – giving NC State a 67-60 lead at 4:47, the widest lead of all Times team until then.
But it only grew from there, and Joiner followed up a little later with a drive and stepback jumper on Caleb Love, taking the lead to nine. And finally, the Wolfpack rose to 75-63 when Ernest Ross ran a long pass forward and saved him behind to a trailing Casey Morsell for a layup that added to the deafening noise with just 89 seconds left.
The Tar Heels called a time-out and the NC State players began to celebrate, with Terquavion Smith walking near the baseline to demand more noise from the fans on the sidelines. And Burns stood a few yards away, showing the front of his jersey to the roaring fans in the end zone.
BIG PICTURE
UNC: The Tar Heels have gone from preseason No. 1 in the AP Top 25 to a team scrapping for an NCAA bid. They started Sunday with an 0-8 record in Quadrant 1 games, the top-tier guy topping a postseason résumé. This one could have helped, but instead ended up with Wolfpack fans chanting at them in the dying seconds, “NIT! NOT!”
NC State: Kevin Keatts’ team — and his program — had enjoyed a resurgence this year that included cracking the AP Top 25 for the first time in four years. That has propelled the Wolfpack to reach the NCAAs for the first time since their inaugural season in 2018. Sunday was all about staying on that track and of course beating a rival who has largely owned the series of late. And Joiner helped ensure that the wolf pack did just that.
NEXT
UNC: Wednesday at Notre Dame.
NC State: Hosting Wake Forest on Wednesday.
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Follow Aaron Beard on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/aaronbeardap
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