Second Half Drought Dooms Pack

BERKELEY, Calif. – A scoring drought for over five minutes late in the game allowed California to build a double-digit lead over NC State as the Golden Bears beat NC State, 74-62, Wednesday night inside Haas Pavilion.

NC State trailed 58-54 with 8:00 to play in the game, but the Pack would only make one field goal over the next seven minutes which allowed Cal to go on an 14-3 run to put the game away.

Marcus Hill led NC State with 20 points on 8-of-14 shooting and added eight rebounds. Dontrez Styles led NC State with 10 rebounds.

Hill was the only NC State player to reach double figures. Trey Parker and Jayden Taylor each finished with nine points.

Cal held a 34-30 halftime advantage. The Golden Bears had a 24-16 lead with 5:14 left in the opening half, but NC State went on a 9-2 run to get within 26-25 on two Michael O'Connell free throws with 1:59 left in the half.

On the Pack's final possession of the half, Trey Parker banked in a three-pointer to get NC State within one, 31-30, but Cal's Jovan Blacksher Jr., beat the buzzer, draining his third three of the opening 20 minutes to push Cal's advantage back to four at the break.

NC State would lead 46-44 on a Styles second chance layup with 13:42 to play, but Cal responded with back-to-back three-pointers to retake the lead 50-46 and the Golden Bears would never trail again.

Blacksher, Jr., led Cal with 18 points while Jeremiah Wilkinson chipped in 14 and Joshua Ola-Joseph had 13.

Mady Sissoko led Cal with 13 rebounds while the Golden Bears finished the game with a 12-rebound advantage over the Pack.

NC State continues its West Coast swing Saturday evening when it takes on Stanford at Maples Pavilion. Tipoff against the Cardinals is 7 p.m. ET and the game will be televised on the ACC Network.

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Team Stats

Marcus Hill

Trey Parker

Jayden Taylor

Ismaël Diouf

Players Mentioned

Marcus Hill

Michael O'Connell

Trey Parker

Dontrez Styles

Jayden Taylor