Year in Review: Ranking the best games of the 2022-23 athletic season

The 2022-23 school year has been a wild ride for NC State Athletics — but we wouldn’t want it any other way. Just in case you missed anything, our editors have compiled a ranked list of the Pack’s best games this year.

1. Men’s basketball knocks off UNC behind electric, late-game surge by its backcourt, the Pack took a sizable lead into halftime before Miami clawed back in the game, but sophomore forward Ernest Ross saved the day with his clutch overtime performance.

It had been 10 long years since NC State beat North Carolina in front of fans at PNC Arena, and the roof nearly exploded during the Pack’s electric 77-69 win on Feb. 19. Graduate guard Jarkel Joiner made sure NC State fans went home happy, leading the Pack on an exhilarating surge down the stretch and doing his part in ensuring the preseason No. 1 Tar Heels missed the NCAA Tournament.

5. Football shocks Seminoles in rollercoaster

An ugly win, a lucky last play — whatever you want to call it, NC State football’s 1917 win over FSU was one to remember, for better or for worse. While many remember it as the game redshirt junior quarterback Devin Leary went down with a seasonending injury, many others remember it for sophomore defensive back Devan Boykin’s miraculous game-winning interception to steal a near-guaranteed win from the Seminoles.

6. Women’s basketball defeats topranked Notre Dame

2. Ben Finley

While the 2022 NC State football season didn’t go nearly the way many had hoped, the Pack managed to salvage the season and end on a high note with its thrilling double overtime win over North Carolina. The win came in the unlikeliest fashion: on the road against the No. 17 team in the country, and it was a fourth-string quarterback — redshirt freshman Ben Finley — who outdueled UNC’s Heisman-hopeful Drake Maye in the renamed “Carter-Finley West.”

In a primetime rematch between NC State’s and UNC’s women’s basketball teams, the Wolfpack came back from a 10-point deficit in order to take down the rival Tar Heels. Senior wing Jakia BrownTurner and sophomore guard Aziaha James both racked up points in the double digits, with James leading the team on a furious comeback down the stretch. Reynolds Coliseum was lit up by a sold-out crowd of Wolfpack faithful, and their energy helped the Pack outscore UNC 15-4 in OT.

4. Men’s basketball stuns Miami in overtime thriller

Out for revenge after an early season loss, NC State won a 83-81 dogfight over the future Final Four-bound Hurricanes. Fueled

In front of a sold-out crowd at Reynolds Coliseum, the Pack took down the then No. 7 Notre Dame Fighting Irish to extend its win streak to three games. After a rocky start to the new year, the red-and-white restored its fan’s faith with a thrilling 6965 victory.

7. Wrestling wins fifth consecutive ACC title

NC State wrestling continued its dominant reign over the ACC this year, earning five individual conference champions and a team score of 101.5, the highest at the ACC Championships since 2007. The championship was head coach Pat Poplizio’s sixth at NC State, an extra-special victory considering the Pack hosted the ACC Championships in Reynolds Coliseum.

8.

While all signs pointed to a less-thanexciting 0-0 draw, senior forward Jameese Joseph made this one an instant classic with her walk-off goal against Campbell. With less than 10 seconds in the game, Joseph called game with a buzzer-beating goal to send the Camels home shocked, and Dail Soccer Field into a frenzy.

In a contest where many expected the Pack to be defeated by a talented Duke