Raleigh, NC – North Carolina’s Jalen Washington dunked the ball on one end and then secured the victory with the block on the other end to send the Tar Heels to a 63-61 win over NC State on Saturday afternoon inside a sold out Lenovo Center.
With the loss, NC State falls to 9-7, 2-3 in the ACC while North Carolina improves to 10-6, 4-1 in the ACC.
The score was tied at 61 when Elliot Cadeau found Washington under the basket for a dunk with 24 seconds left to give UNC the last basket of the game. After an NC State timeout, Jayden Taylor drove to the basket but Washington blocked his game-tying attempt and secured the rebound as time ran out.
The Pack played catch up all second half after UNC closed the first half on a 12-3 run to take a 26-20 lead into the halftime break.
But despite trailing for a majority of the game, NC State had a response every time UNC appeared ready to break the game open. After the Tar Heels took a 29-20 lead with a three-pointer on its first possession of the second half, NC State went on a 16-5 run to retake the lead, 36-35, on a Marcus Hill lay-up with 13:58 to go.
The Tar Heels again appeared on the verge of breaking the game open on another Jackson three-pointer with 5:53 to go that gave UNC a 56-47 lead, but the Pack had one more charge in it. NC State rattled off six straight points to get within three and after a North Carolina layup went on another 6-0 spurt to take a 59-58 lead with 2:28 to go.
Jackson had an answer for UNC though as he hit another three – he went 4-for-5 from long range in the second half – to give the Tar Heels a 61-59 lead. Hill had an answer on the other end for the Pack to tie the game at 61, but NC State would come up empty on both of its final offensive possessions to allow the Tar Heels to eke out the win.
Hill led the Pack with 20 points on 10-of-19 shooting and also had a season-high nine rebounds. Taylor was the only other NC State player in double figures with 12 points.
Ben Middlebrooks pulled down a career-best 14 rebounds as NC State tied its season-high with 16 offensive rebounds.
NC State returns to action Wednesday night when it plays at Virginia Tech. Tipoff against the Hokies is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the game will be televised on ESPNU.