Pack Closes Strong to Defeat Notre Dame

RALEIGH, N.C. – The NC State men's basketball team battled back from a late seven point deficit to beat Notre Dame, 66-65, Wednesday night inside the Lenovo Center.

With the win, NC State improves to 9-6, 2-2 in the ACC while Notre Dame falls to 7-8, 1-3 in the ACC.

Notre Dame's Braden Shrewsberry drained a three-pointer with 3:39 to play to give the Fighting Irish a 63-56 lead.

That basket proved to be the last one of the night for Notre Dame.

The Pack responded on its next possession with a Dontrez Styles three-pointer to get back within four and that a Styles block on the other end ignited an NC State fast break that ended in a Marcus Hill lay-up to make the score 63-61 with 2:30 to play.

Notre Dame made both ends of a one-and-one with 2:06 to play to double its lead to four but that capped the Irish's scoring for the evening.

Ben Middlebrooks grabbed an offensive rebound on the Pack's next possession and was fouled as he attempted a putback. He made both free throws to get the game back to one possession.

After a Notre Dame miss, Hill drove the length of the floor to lay it in and tie the game at 65 with 1:13 to go.

Shrewsberry missed a three-pointer on Notre Dame's ensuing possession and after the Pack milked the shot clock all the way down Breon Pass found Middlebrooks streaking to the basket and Notre Dame was forced to foul to prevent the lay-up.

After missing the first free throw, Middlebrooks calmly drained the second to give NC State the lead.

Notre Dame's game-winning shot was off the mark as the Pack ended the game on a 10-2 run in the final 3:11.

Hill led the Pack with 15 points while Jayden Taylor added 14 points and Styles and Middlebrooks each chipped in 10.

Pass tied his career-high with four assists as the Pack finished with 14 assists and just seven turnovers in the win.

After leading 18-12 early in the first half, NC State saw Notre Dame got on an extended 21-5 run, taking a 33-23 in the final minute of the opening half before Hill drained a three-pointer to send the Pack to the locker room, trailing 33-26.

Notre Dame stayed in front until a Michael O'Connell lay-up tied the game at 51 with 8:20 to play. A Middlebrooks three-pointer with 7:40 to play put the Pack back in front for the first time since the 7:25 mark of the first half, but Notre Dame responded with a 7-0 spurt to take a 60-54 lead with 4:37 to go.

NC State finished the game with a 15-2 advantage in fast break points.

Notre Dame had all five starters reach double figures, led by Markus Burton with 15 points. Kebba Njie had a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.

NC State returns to action Saturday afternoon when it hosts North Carolina inside the Lenovo Center. Tipoff against the Tar Heels is scheduled for 4 p.m. and the game will be televised on the ACC Network.

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Team Stats

Marcus Hill

Jayden Taylor

Dontrez Styles

Ben Middlebrooks

Players Mentioned

Marcus Hill

Ben Middlebrooks

Michael O'Connell

Breon Pass

Dontrez Styles

Jayden Taylor