Thursday, March 21
Pittsburgh, PA
9:40 PM
NC State
23-14,9-11ACC
80
vs
67
Texas Tech
23-11,11-7Big 12
1
2
F
NC State
37
43
80
Texas Tech
33
34
67
Pack Cruises Past Red Raiders to Advance to Second Round
3/22/2024 1:17:00 AM | Men's Basketball
PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The 11th-seed NC State men's basketball team used a 10-0 run towards the end of the first half to take the lead and never looked back in knocking off sixth-seed Texas Tech, 80-67, Thursday night at PPG Paints Arena.
The win is NC State's first NCAA Tournament win in nine years when the Pack beat No. 1 seed Villanova in the second round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament. That game against the Wildcats was also played at PPG Paints Arena.
Ben Middlebrooks and Mohamed Diarra both set career-highs in points to lead the Pack to victory.
Middlebrooks tied his career-high in points in the first half alone, scoring 14 points to lead all scorers. He added seven points in the second half to finish with a game-high 21 points.
The Fort Lauderdale, Fla., native finished the game 6-of-8 from the field and 9-of-10 from the foul line.
Diarra scored a career-high 17 points, finishing the game 6-of-9 from the field and 4-of-5 from the foul line and added a game-high 12 rebounds. Diarra has now had a double-double in three of his last four games.
DJ Burns, Jr., and DJ Horne also reached double figures with both players finishing with 16 points.
After scoring in double figures in five straight games in the ACC Tournament, Michael O'Connell was held scoreless, but he did pass out a game-high six assists and had zero turnovers in 37 minutes of action.
NC State took a 37-33 lead into halftime courtesy of a 10-0 run towards the end of the first half.
Texas Tech had a 30-27 lead with 3:58 left in the opening half when the Pack went on it's run. Diarra started the run with a putback basket, Middlebrooks put NC State back in front with two free throws and Morsell would make a three off a steal to push the Pack's lead to four. After another defensive stop, O'Connell found Middlebrooks for a lay-up as he was fouled. Middlebrooks made the free throw to complete the Pack's 10-0 run.
The second half started with both offenses clicking. The Red Raiders got withing three, 52-49, on a jumper with 12:30 remaining, but the Pack would rattle off nine straight points to take a 61-49 lead with 9:21 to play.
NC State would extend its lead to as many as 17 points as Texas Tech would not get the deficit into single digits until under one minute remained.
NC State advances to the second round where it will face 14th-seed Oakland on Saturday night. Tipoff at PPG Paints Arena is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. and the game will be televised on TBS.
The win is NC State's first NCAA Tournament win in nine years when the Pack beat No. 1 seed Villanova in the second round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament. That game against the Wildcats was also played at PPG Paints Arena.
Ben Middlebrooks and Mohamed Diarra both set career-highs in points to lead the Pack to victory.
Middlebrooks tied his career-high in points in the first half alone, scoring 14 points to lead all scorers. He added seven points in the second half to finish with a game-high 21 points.
The Fort Lauderdale, Fla., native finished the game 6-of-8 from the field and 9-of-10 from the foul line.
Diarra scored a career-high 17 points, finishing the game 6-of-9 from the field and 4-of-5 from the foul line and added a game-high 12 rebounds. Diarra has now had a double-double in three of his last four games.
DJ Burns, Jr., and DJ Horne also reached double figures with both players finishing with 16 points.
After scoring in double figures in five straight games in the ACC Tournament, Michael O'Connell was held scoreless, but he did pass out a game-high six assists and had zero turnovers in 37 minutes of action.
NC State took a 37-33 lead into halftime courtesy of a 10-0 run towards the end of the first half.
Texas Tech had a 30-27 lead with 3:58 left in the opening half when the Pack went on it's run. Diarra started the run with a putback basket, Middlebrooks put NC State back in front with two free throws and Morsell would make a three off a steal to push the Pack's lead to four. After another defensive stop, O'Connell found Middlebrooks for a lay-up as he was fouled. Middlebrooks made the free throw to complete the Pack's 10-0 run.
The second half started with both offenses clicking. The Red Raiders got withing three, 52-49, on a jumper with 12:30 remaining, but the Pack would rattle off nine straight points to take a 61-49 lead with 9:21 to play.
NC State would extend its lead to as many as 17 points as Texas Tech would not get the deficit into single digits until under one minute remained.
NC State advances to the second round where it will face 14th-seed Oakland on Saturday night. Tipoff at PPG Paints Arena is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. and the game will be televised on TBS.
Team Stats
NCSU
TTU
FG%
.509
.387
3FG%
.385
.226
FT%
.808
.857
RB
33
33
TO
10
10
STL
8
3
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
21
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
9
Pts
17
FGM
6
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Pts
16
FGM
7
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
F
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