Stanford holds on late to knock off NC State
Ebuka Okorie topped 30 points for the seventh time this season, Jaylen Thompson did a majority of the scoring in a late 12-1 run, and Stanford completed the Atlantic Coast Conference regular season with an impressive 85-84 road victory over North Carolina State on Saturday afternoon in Raleigh, NC.
Okorie, the ACC's leading scorer entering the final day of the regular season, led the way with 33 points for the Cardinal (20-11, 9-9), whose fourth straight triumph gave the school its second consecutive 20-win season under coach Kyle Smith.
Ven-Allen Lubin's 17 points led a balanced attack for the Wolfpack (19-12, 10-8), who dropped a fourth straight and remained one win shy of a 20-win campaign despite leading 58-55 following a Matt Able 3-pointer with 11:06 remaining.
Benny Gealer drew Stanford even at 58-all with a 3-pointer 33 seconds later and then, after a Scottie Ebube free throw, fed Thompson for a dunk that gave the visitors the lead for good at 60-59 with 9:13 left.
Gealer followed with another 3-pointer and Thompson with another interior hoop before Okorie put the capper on the 12-1 flurry with a layup at the 6:39 mark for a 67-59 lead.
NC State made things interesting down the stretch, getting within 81-79 on a Quadir Copeland layup with 51 seconds remaining. A missed free throw by Stanford's AJ Rohosy gave the Wolfpack a chance to tie or go ahead with a 3-pointer, but Jeremy Dent-Smith stole a Copeland pass, got fouled and dropped in a pair of clinching foul shots with 25 seconds left.
Dent-Smith then wrapped up a 10-point performance off the bench with two more free throws with nine seconds left, rendering a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Paul McNeil Jr. meaningless.
Okorie's 33 points included 5-for-8 shooting from beyond the arc, helping Stanford outscore the hosts 33-21 from deep.
Thompson finished with 15 points and Rohosy 14 for the Cardinal, whose leading rebounders were Rohosy and Donavin Young with seven apiece.
Lubin completed a double-double with a game-high 11 rebounds for NC State, which lost despite a 25-8 advantage in free throw points.
Copeland chipped in 16 points for the Wolfpack, while Tre Holloman had 15, and Able and McNeil had 13 apiece.