Whew! NC State Holds Off Detroit, 82-79

Box Score

NC State never trailed and in fact led comfortably for the majority of the game, though you wouldn't guess it by the final score. This one took a strange turn down the stretch, and obviously not in a good way. The Wolfpack led by 18 points with 7:52 left and held an 11-point edge with 3:52 to go ... which is when things got scary.

Detroit started scoring pretty much every time down--four of the Titans' six threes came in the last five minutes--and State was leaving points at the free throw line. Four times in the last two minutes, a Wolfpack player went 1-of-2 at the line. The only guy to convert both of his tries in that span was Kyle Washington (way to step up, son!). The result: Detroit ended up with about a 35-footer to tie the game at the buzzer, but the attempt rimmed out.

And so it was that a near-disastrous meltdown was averted. Had to make it interesting, though, didn't ya, fellas?

TJ Warren and Ralston Turner combined to score 50 of the Pack's points on 16-of-23 shooting, and it's a good thing, too, because Cat Barber, Tyler Lewis, and Dez Lee combined to shoot 5-of-22. Barber's jump shot is apparently allergic to Reynolds Coliseum--he missed some jumpers badly in the first half. It was a day he'd probably prefer to forget, but hey, that's gonna happen.