NC State played to its strength, literally.
The Wolfpack rode the inside trio of senior center D.J. Burns, junior backup center Ben Middlebrooks and junior power forward Mohamed Diarra to overpower the much smaller Texas Tech squad 80-67 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday in PIttsburgh, Pa.
The No. 11-seeded NC State (23-14) advanced to play No. 14-seeded Oakland (24-11), who shocked Kentucky 80-76 in the game before the Wolfpack.
The victory helped validate NC State’s ACC Tournament title run, which was achieved with five wins in five days in Washington, D.C. Coach Kevin Keatts also won his first NCAA Tournament game in five attempts — losing two at North Carolina-Wilmington and now 1-2 at NC State.
Middlebrooks had a game-high 21 points, while Diarra had 17 points, 12 rebounds and two blocks, and Burns proved difficult to defend after a slow start to finish with 16 points.
NC State had 18 layups/dunks and won the battle of the paint 42-20.
“I thought we had an incredible size advantage,” NCSU coach Kevin Keatts said. “When you look at D.J. Burns and then look at the way Ben played and Mo, I thought those guys really delivered for us inside. They did a lot of good things.”
“We completely played the game through our post and we went inside-out.”
NCSU also did a good job slowing Texas Tech’s guards, especially in the second half. The Red Raiders went 7 of 31 on three-pointers for 23 percent.
“We got stronger in the second half,” said Keatts, who credited the players with executing the game plans the last six games.
NC State set the tone early by building a 37-33 halftime lead, with Middlebrooks scoring 14 points in 11 minutes of action.
Middlebrooks gave credit to the guards for finding him.
“They really just make it easy for, so I have to give it to them,” Middlebrooks said.
Texas Tech regained healthy senior center Warren Washington and sophomore small-ball power forward Darrion Williams healthy, but the Red Raiders still gave up inches and pounds to NC State’s trio of big men. Washington had been out since Feb. 24, and Williams missed last Friday’s Big 12 Tournament game against Houston with a sprained ankle.
“We knew that he [Washington] had been out for a good number of games, so we absolutely wanted to see what he could do,” Middlebrooks said.
NC State’s defense held Texas Tech to 3 of 14 on three-pointers in the first half, but senior guard Joe Toussaint got loose for 13 of his 16 points in the first 20 minutes. Texas Tech’s Williams hit a corner 3-pointer to cut the lead to 37-33 at the halftime buzzer.
“We played against a really good, well coached Texas Tech team,” Keatts said. “They pushed us to the limit.
“In the first half, I thought it was more of an offensive game. We decided to sit down and defend.”
Texas Tech first-year coach Grant McCasland was appreciate of what his squad achieved this season, but he knew the Wolfpack were a tough matchup inside. The Red Raiders finished tied for last in the Big 12 last year at 5-13.
"Give NC State credit, I just thought they were tougher than we were," McCasland said. "What a great team. They kept us on our heels. The paint points were the difference in the game."
Oakland gunned down Kentucky with senior shooting guard Jack Gohlke making an astonishing 10 of 20 on three-pointers for 32 points. Gohlike had made 10 of 15 three-pointers en route to 31 points in a 107-59 win over IUPUI on Feb. 17.
The Grizzlies will also give up inches and pounds against NC State. Center Chris Conway is 6-9 and 221 pounds, and power forward Trey Townsend is 6-6 and 221 pounds.
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