North Carolina’s Ian Jackson scored 21 points in his first meeting with rival North Carolina State and teammate Jalen Washington’s tiebreaking dunk with 24 seconds to play and game-clinching defense allowed the visiting Tar Heels to escape with a 63-61 victory Saturday at Raleigh, N.C.
After Washington’s go-ahead slam, the Wolfpack called timeout to set up the next possession. Washington blocked a shot from NC State’s Jayden Taylor to preserve the lead and secured the rebound as the game ended.
The Tar Heels held on after a furious late-game rally from NC State in the first matchup since the Wolfpack’s ACC Tournament championship game upset last March that gave NC State a bid into the NCAA Tournament and later resulted in a spot in the Final Four.
Marcus Hill scored eight of his 20 points in the final five minutes and Taylor posted 12 points for cold-shooting NC State (9-7, 2-3 Atlantic Coast Conference), which shot 36.9 percent from the field. That included 3-for-19 beyond the 3-point arc.
NC State used a 12-2 run to go ahead 59-58 with 2:28 left. Jackson responded on the next possession with a 3-pointer with the shot clock winding down.
Then Hill made it even at 61-all with a drive before the final sequence.
Jackson, a freshman wing, connected on 5 of 8 3-point attempts. Washington and RJ Davis each scored 11 points for North Carolina (11-6, 4-1).
The Tar Heels were just 4 of 8 on free throws, while NC State went 10 of 12 at the foul line.
NC State leads the ACC in turnover margin and benefitted from 12 North Carolina giveaways while committing only nine turnovers.
Jackson has scored 20 or more points in five of the last six games. Washington, a junior forward, pulled in a career-high 12 rebounds.
North Carolina led 26-20 at halftime, mainly because of the Wolfpack’s 22.5-percent shooting from the field. The Wolfpack went 1-for-12 on first-half 3-pointers. Hill had half of NC State’s first-half points.
North Carolina improved to 20-6 all-time against the Wolfpack in NC State’s off-campus home arena.
–Field Level Media
