The NC State men's basketball team made three three-pointers by three different players and made seven of its eight free throw attempts in the overtime period to push past Boston College, 84-78, Saturday evening inside Conte Forum.
NC State placed four players in double figures with
DJ Horne leading the Pack with 21 points and five assists.
Jayden Taylor added 18 points, seven rebounds and four steals.
DJ Burns, Jr., finished with 17 and
Casey Morsell added 12 points.
Mohamed Diarra finished two points shy of a double-double with eight points and a career-high 18 rebounds He also had a team-high two blocks. The 18 rebounds are the most by an NC State player since Dereon Seabron had 19 rebounds in NC State's four overtime win over Nebraska on Dec. 1, 2021.
After trailing 7-2 early in the game, the Pack didn't trail again in regulation, but Boston College ended the second period on a 10-3 run to force overtime at 68.
Diarra opened the overtime period with a corner three-pointer to put NC State back in the lead, but BC scored the next five points to take a 73-71 with 3:29 remaining in overtime.
The lead was the first for BC since the Eagles had a 7-6 lead early in the first half.
After empty possessions by both teams, Horne found Morsell in the corner and the grad guard delivered with a three-pointer to put NC State back in front, 74-73, with 2:35 to play.
BC made two free throws with 1:42 to play to retake the lead, but Taylor hit a three-pointer on the Pack's next possession with the shot clock dwindling to give NC State a 77-75 lead with 1:15 to play.
The Eagles cut the Pack's lead to one with a free throw on its next possession, but NC State hit seven of its eight free throw attempts in the final 45 seconds of overtime to keep Boston College in the rearview game.
For the game, NC State shot 85.7 percent from the foul line (18-of-21), while Boston College was just 53.8 percent (14-of-26).
Boston College jumped out to an early 7-2 run, but NC State responded with an 11-0 run to take the lead and never trailed again the rest of the first half.
The Eagles closed within 19-16, but an 8-0 run gave the Pack a 27-16 lead with 5:20 left in the opening period.
The Pack was still up 11, 32-21, after a Horne three-pointer, but BC scored on seven of its final eight possessions of the first half to close within three, 36-33, at the break.
NC State is back in action Wednesday evening when it hosts Maryland Eastern Shore inside James T. Valvano Arena at Reynolds Coliseum in the program's annual Heritage Game. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the game will be streamed on ACC Network Extra.
https://gopack.com/news/2023/12/2/mens-basketball-clutch-shooting-sends-pack-past-bc-in-overtime