NC State men’s basketball senior guard Dontrez Styles just wanted it more.

With the Wolfpack (6-3, 1-0 ACC) on the verge of losing its fourth-straight game, down 68-66 with 53 seconds left to Florida State (7-3, 0-1 ACC), Styles leaped into the air to grab graduate guard Michael O’Connell’s missed 3-point attempt. The ball was ripped out of his hands but trickled out of bounds to keep it Wolfpack ball.

“It was huge,” O’Connell said. “You know someone’s got your back and giving their all for you out there.”

On the ensuing inbound, the Georgetown transfer nailed a 3-pointer to give NC State a 69-68 lead. Although Styles fouled Seminoles’ guard Jamir Watkins who tied the game to send it to overtime, Styles made up for it with five points in the extra period to propel the Wolfpack to an 84-74 victory Saturday night at Lenovo Center.

“I just wanted to win so bad,” Styles said. “I feel like we deserved to win and last game we deserved to win … So I was doing whatever it takes to win the game.”

Styles scored 19 of his 21 points in the second half and overtime to end the Wolfpack’s three-game losing skid and put an end to Florida State’s NCAA record of 14 consecutive overtime victories.

Not only did Styles pace the Wolfpack’s offense in the second half but his intensity in crashing the glass inspired his teammates. Styles grabbed three offensive rebounds in the second half, all three of which directly led to Wolfpack points.

“I think that not even just him getting that board and getting extra possession but I think getting those offensive rebounds really just gives the team an extra boost and extra spark,” said senior forward Ben Middlebrooks. “I think that’s one of the biggest momentum shifts you can get in the game is getting that extra possession.”

Failing to grab a rebound in the first 20 minutes, Styles knew he had to do a better job of going up for missed shots, especially with the Seminoles using their size to their advantage in the second half. Florida State is measured as the second tallest team in the country and it showed when it outrebounded NC State 17-13 in the second half and grabbed seven offensive rebounds after securing just one in the first half.

Styles could no longer watch his teammates get abused in the paint so he took it upon himself to crash the glass despite standing shorter than most of the Seminioles’ roster.

“At halftime I was just telling myself I need to go rebound,” Styles said. “Forget scoring, whatever, if that comes it comes but I just wanted to go out there and just rebound because I know we getting killed on the glass.”

In his last two games, Styles has made up for his poor performance in San Diego against Purdue and BYU. Against the Cougars and Boilermakers, Styles combined to score six points on 3-12 shooting to go with just three rebounds.

But since the Wolfpack made its way back to Raleigh, Styles has been one of NC State’s most reliable players, combining to score 38 points against Texas and Florida State with six 3-pointers.

“What I’ve asked these guys is to give me some consistency,” said head coach Kevin Keatts. “The toughest thing for a coach is to come into a game and not know what you’re getting from a player and so we wanted consistency. [Styles] had a good couple days of practice, and I thought he was huge tonight. He made play after play.”

For Styles it was good to get back on track against the Longhorns but he didn’t care because NC State lost. Having the performance he did against the Seminoles is a much better feeling because of the W in the win column.

“When you have those numbers and don’t win, it doesn’t matter,” Styles said. “Doing that and helping the team win, that’s my biggest thing I wanted to come here and do today and that’s what happened. So I thank God for it and keep going.”

When NC State landed Styles out of the transfer portal, O’Connell was “super excited” to play with him when he watched film on the Georgetown transfer. While it had been an up and down start to the season for Styles, no one is more happy to see him flourish than O’Connell especially after he came down with his missed 3-pointer.

“It’s tough when you’re on a new team,” O’Connell said. “Sometimes that ball is just not going in, stuff is not going your way. But I’m proud of him because he stuck to it every day in practice. He always had the right mentality, and he worked hard and now it’s showing that he’s been playing well.”

Thanks to an inspired performance by Styles, NC State starts ACC play 1-0. Next up, the Wolfpack will play its annual “Heritage Game” in Reynolds Coliseum against Coppin State on Tuesday, Dec. 10. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.