Fresh off of victories, both No. 23 North Carolina State and Texas will play for fifth place at the Maui Invitational on Wednesday night in Lahaina, Hawaii.
The Wolfpack (5-1) are coming off an 81-70 win over Boise State on Tuesday, one day after falling 85-74 to Seton Hall.
“Give our guys credit,” North Carolina State coach Will Wade said after Tuesday’s game. “We were able to turn it around pretty quick against a really good Boise team. It was a good win. We needed it.”
The Longhorns (5-2) enter the matchup off a 119-78 victory over Division II Chaminade on Tuesday night. Texas recovered after a heartbreaking 87-86 loss to Arizona State in the first game of the invitational on Monday.
Tramon Mark led the charge with 19 points against the Silverswords, while Dailyn Swain scored 18 to go with nine rebounds. Matas Vokietaitis nearly had a double-double with 16 points and nine boards.
The Longhorns shot 65.8% from the floor and owned a 59-20 rebounding advantage over Chaminade.
Jordan Pope added 15 points and eight assists, Simeon Wilcher scored 12 off the bench, and Lassina Traore contributed nine points and 14 rebounds in a reserve role for Texas.
The Longhorns, who won despite turning the ball over 25 times, are ready to push ahead to Wednesday’s game. Mark said he is looking forward to a chance to play the nationally ranked Wolfpack.
“We are just really excited,” Mark said of the matchup. “I know the group of guys we have. We did a poor job of taking care of the ball, but that’s OK, we will bounce back (on Wednesday) and have a chance to get a Top 25 win. We’re focused on that game.”
Darrion Williams led the Wolfpack with 16 points against Boise State, reaching double figures in all six games this season. He is averaging 20.2 points per outing.
Houston transfer Terrance Arceneaux scored 11 points on Tuesday, marking his first time in double figures in a North Carolina State uniform. Ven-Allen Lubin added 11 points and a game-high 12 rebounds for his first double-double of the year, and Paul McNeil Jr. scored 10 points.
Arceneaux, who sat out the previous two games due to a sore Achilles tendon, felt good about his effort.
“It was hard watching my guys out there playing, not being able to,” Arceneaux said. “But I knew I had to sacrifice a couple of games to get to where I wanted to be.”
The difference was Broncos turnovers that led to 24 Wolfpack points. North Carolina State also made 9 of 21 shots (42.9%) from 3-point range compared with 11 of 33 (33.3%) for Boise State.
The Wolfpack came out hot on Tuesday night, with Williams recording a pair of early baskets to help the club jump to an 8-0 lead.
Texas is led by Swain, who is averaging 16.9 points per game. Vokietaitis is putting up 15.9 ppg and Mark 11.3.
–Field Level Media
