Make it SIX in a row now for the hottest team in America. The NC State Wolfpack used a dominating performance in the paint to advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament with an 80-67 win over the Texas Tech Red Raiders late Thursday evening.
Like a mirror of last week in DC, the Wolfpack received a spark from a player most wouldn’t have expected. Thursday’s impact play came from reserved big man Ben Middlebrooks, who finished with a career high 21 points on 6-8 shooting.
Neither team pulled away early, as the score was tight at the early media breaks. Halfway through the first half the score was tied at 19-19 all before NC State used a late run in the last two minutes of the opening stanza to grab a seven point lead. The Red Raiders hit a three pointer at the buzzer to trim the State lead to four at the half.
Texas Tech would get as close at two before a Middlebrooks layup ended a Red Raiders surge. Both teams traded baskets until the Wolfpack put together a run to jump out to a 59-49 lead with just over 10 minutes left in the game. That run proved to be too much for Texas Tech as the Wolfpack cruised the rest of the way to the 13 point win – setting up a battle of double-digit seeds on Saturday with the Wolfpack facing Oakland University for a trip to the Sweet 16.
