Eight-seed N.C. State fell to the nine-seeded Temple Owls, 76-72, Friday in the second round of the East region at the University of Dayton Arena in Dayton, Oh. The Pack finished its 2012-13 campaign 24-11, while the Owls improved to 24-9.
Temple senior guard Khalif Wyatt worked State’s defense for 31 points, five assists and three steals in 38 minutes of action. Wyatt was 9-for-22 from the floor and 12-for-14 from the free-throw line and only committed one turnover.
“He (Wyatt) is a great player,” N.C. State head coach Mark Gottfried said. We have played against really good guards this year. In our league, we saw great guards, and Wyatt is as good as or better than all of them.”
N.C. State started off sluggishly for a second straight game. The Pack trailed the Owls, 12-4, after five minutes of action. After a brief spurt of offense from State tied the score at 15 with 12 minutes remaining in the first half, Temple close the opening stanza with a 23-7 run to go into the locker room with a 38-22 lead.
Graduate student Jake O’Brien was a thorn in State’s side in the half. He scored 13 points in the period despite averaging less than 10 points per game during the season.
“I think we got off to a really poor start,” Gottfried said. “Defensively we were not really good early, and they were really good early offensively.”
“We just did not guard them for 40 minutes. It is real simple.”
“This is a great feeling today,” O’Brien said. “We’re going to enjoy this win right now.”
State was led by junior guard Lorenzo Brown, who scored 22 points on 9-of-15 shooting with nine assists.
“Brown is a really good playmaker,” Wyatt said. “He got out in transition and made some great plays.”
Senior forward Richard Howell tallied 14 points and 15 rebounds in his final collegiate game. Howell finished the season with 18 double-doubles, good for fourth-best in school history.
“Me and Scott (Wood) are definitely leaving a better place than when we first got to N.C. State,” Howell said. “It has been a great experience, especially these (last) two years with Coach Gottfried and the type of turnaround we have had.”
After trailing by as much as 17 points in the second half, the Pack made a furious rally to cut the deficit to three with 2:18 remaining. Temple responded with three free throws to increase its lead to six with 32 seconds to go.
The Pack refused to fold however, and cut the Owls’ lead to three with 10 seconds left. But Temple forward Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson nailed a free throw to increase the lead back to four. Brown hit a long-range jumper with 2.2 seconds left, but his foot was on the three-point line and it only cut the Pack’s deficit to two. Wyatt then sealed it with two free throws to get Temple to the third round of the NCAA Tournament for only second time since 2007. The Owls will face the winner of Indiana and James Madison on Sunday.
