Boston College chased the game into overtime only to fall 84-78 to North Carolina State in the ACC opener for both squads Saturday at Conte Forum.

BC dropped to 5-3 and will resume non-league play at home against Central Connecticut on Tuesday night while the Wolfpack improved to 5-2. BC is 9-10 in ACC openers since joining the conference in the 2005-06 season.

“They threw an ACC game in the middle of the non-conferences so there was a lot of emotion in that,” said BC coach Earl Grant. “We have to learn from this and get ready for the next game.”

The NC State backcourt tandem of DJ Home and Jayden Taylor combined for 39 points and 12 boards while massive graduate forward D.J. Burns netted 17. Jaeden Zackery paced BC with 20 points while center Quinten Post netted 18 with seven boards.

The game was a statistical draw in nearly every category except free throws. NC State was 18-of-21 from the line while BC was 14-of-26 with the misses coming at the wrong times. Ironically, BC entered the game tied with Villanova for the national lead with a .832 free throw percentage.

“We got jinxed, somebody asked me yesterday why are you one of the best in the nation and I said, ‘we shooting pretty good,’ ” said Grant. “We shoot them good but we missed them today. We have a bunch of confident guys but the ball didn’t bounce our way today.”

Up three at the break, NC State opened the second half with a 9-3 surge to go up 44-36 with 16:45 to play. Once BC stopped turning the ball over, the Eagles rallied for six straight points accentuated by a Caudell Harris (14 points) slam dunk with 14:31 on the clock.

Post cut NC State’s 50-46 on a tip in headed into the second media timeout. BC had opportunities to tie the game or take the lead but missed four straight free throws. Burns hit a short baseline jumper to give the Wolfpack a 56-51 lead into the third media timeout.

Post made a fallaway in the paint tied the game 66-66 with 1:46 remaining. Burns countered with a jumper on the baseline, but Zackery answered with a drive to make it 68-68 with 1:02 remaining. Both teams failed to make a shot in the final minute.

“We just kept swinging our axe and we showed great inner strength and played hard and played tough,” said Grant. “At the end of the day they just made some talented tough shots, dagger shots and give them credit.”

Points were at a premium for both camps after Harris nailed consecutive pullup jumpers to give BC a 5-0 lead. NC State missed its first seven shots and got its first field goal when Home picked Post’s pocket and went the length of the floor for a layup, cutting BC’s lead to 7-4 into the first media timeout.

Burns rallied the Wolfpack with three straight midrange jumpers before Home buried a pull up on the baseline to take a 13-7 lead with 12:43 to play. NC State took 19-12 when Jayden Taylor swished a corner trey with 9:04 to play.

BC hit four straight from the line, but Mohamad Diarra (18 rebounds) and Burns answered with plays at the rim to make it 23-16 into the third media timeout. Casey Morell gave NC State its first double-digit lead, 23-18, with a 3-ball from the corner with 5:20 to play. Devin McGlockton (13 points) finished a late rally with a trey from the top of the key with two seconds remaining to make it 36-33 at the break.

Boston College Eagles forward Quinten Post puts the ball over North Carolina State’s Ben Middlebrooks during Saturday’s ACC clash. (Staff Photo/Stuart Cahill/Boston Herald)