Texas Defeats NC State In Raleigh

RALEIGH, N.C. – In a game that featured 12 lead changes and nine ties, Texas made the last few plays as the Longhorns eked out a 63-59 win over NC State on Wednesday evening in the ACC/SEC Challenger at the Lenovo Center.

A neck-and-neck game between the two teams saw almost the entire final 30 minutes of the game played within a one possession margin.

Dontrez Styles led the Wolfpack with a season-high 17 points while Marcus Hill finished with 16 points and Brandon Huntley-Hatfield added 10.

Michael O’Connell dished out seven assists and also led the Pack with six rebounds.

The Longhorns started the game on a 9-0 blitz barely two minutes into the game, but the Pack battled back tying the game at 21 on a Hill lay-up with 9:07 to play.

A lay-up from Jayden Taylor two minutes later gave the Pack its first lead of the night, 25-24, with a little more than seven minutes remaining in the opening half.

Texas regained the lead on the next possession and went up 33-30 with 3:32 remaining in the first half. The Pack held the Longhorns scoreless the rest of the opening period, but could not take advantage offensively as NC State only scored one point to allow Texas to take a 33-31 advantage into the halftime locker room.

The second half remained close throughout, Texas took its largest lead early in the final period, 38-33, with 17:01 to play but the Pack responded with a 6-0 run to retake the lead.

Texas had a 46-44 lead when Hill hit a free throw and then a few possessions later a Styles three-pointer gave the Pack a 48-46 lead with 11:03 to play. The Pack would either lead the game or the score would be tied for nearly the next 10 minutes until a three-pointer by Tre Johnson with 1:43 to play gave the Longhorns a 60-57 lead.

Styles made a lay-up on the Pack’s ensuing possession to cut the deficit to one, but the Pack could get no closer as Texas took advantage of an offensive rebound to get to the free throw to double its lead to two and the Pack had a turnover and a missed shot on its final two possessions of the game. Texas made a runaway dunk with less than a second remaining to cap the scoring on the evening.

Johnson led the Longhorns with 18 points, going 4-four-6 from beyond the arc, while Arthur Kaluma pulled down a game-high 16 rebounds.

The Pack will return to the Lenovo Center on Saturday, Dec. 7 to host Florida State for its ACC home opener. Tipoff is scheduled for 4pm on ESPNU.