Managing 10 pitiful points in the first 15 minutes, Clemson dug a Chris Hobbs-sized hole that led to an emphatic 84-53 ACC beating from the N.C. State Wolfpack.

“State was excellent and we were very close to being inept for a long period of time,” understated Clemson coach Larry Shyatt. “Maybe if we’d kept playing into the wee hours, we would have gotten hot. We never did get warm.”

Clemson (12-14, 3-10) made one of a dozen 3-point attempts on the afternoon and shot 30.4 percent from the field in a backboard-bruising, first-half effort.

The Tigers aren’t always that inefficient. They scored 118 points in beating Wake on Wednesday, scored in the 80s twice against Duke, drilled 15 3-pointers at Maryland and shot 61 percent in losing by a point to State at home,

So give credit where it’s due — to a tenacious Wolfpack defense that held the Tigers to their second-worst offensive output of the season.

Veteran Archie Miller did a solid job on Clemson backcourt whiz Tony Stockman (0-for-6 on 3-pointers), while 6-foot-7 Pack freshman Ilian Evtimov, despite giving up 50 pounds or so to Hobbs, held the XXXL Tiger to a single offensive rebound.

Senior guard Anthony Grundy, despite a bad foot, harassed Clemson’s Ed Scott, the ACC’s assist leader, into a 3-for-11 shooting day and limited him to five dishes.

Grundy did it both ways. He made one difficult shot after another and led the Wolfpack with 23 points.

The other offensive key for the Pack was 6-8 soph Marcus Melvin, who stepped outside to bury three back-breaking 3-pointers in one spree. Moments after his third successful 3, Melvin was fouled on yet another 3-point attempt and knocked down all three free throws.

Meanwhile, Evtimov, whose rapidly evolving inside-outside game is making him sort of a Bulgarian Mike Dunleavy, added a career-high 18 points, five assists and six rebounds.

Nailing jumpers inside and out, State shot a sizzling 57.7 percent in the second half.

“It wasn’t any one guy, it was a new guy every three of four minutes,” sighed Shyatt. “They were getting 3s from their big guys and 3s from their wing players. That’s a lethal combination.”

State got 14 3-pointers from six different players.

The biggest of all those 3s may have been the one Miller knocked down to end the first half. It gave the Pack a 35-20 lead and momentum heading into the locker room.

Hobbs scored down low to open the second half, but Clemson which only led only once all day (at 4-3), never got closer than 13 the entire second half.

The 24th-ranked Wolfpack (19-7, 8-5) continued its march toward March Madness, rebounding admirably from the pounding No. 1 Duke administered in Cameron Indoor Stadium on Thursday night.

“You take a hard loss from Duke or from anybody, you want to get right back out there and play,” said Miller. “This was a great turnaround for us.”

“We responded quickly and positively to a very decisive beating,” added State coach Herb Sendek. “We’re not going to overpower anyone, but we are playing better and better together.”

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NOTES:West Rowan’s Scooter Sherrill had a quiet afternoon despite the Pack’s success. Sherrill went 0-for-3 in 16 minutes of action. His only highlight came with the Pack leading comfortably with nine minutes left. Sherrill defended a shot by Scott, grabbed the long rebound, then pushed the ball downcourt leading to an open 3-pointer for Grundy. ... Sendek’s 6-6 vs. Clemson. ... State plays at Georgia Tech on Wednesday.

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