Ven-Allen Lubin scored 22 points and North Carolina State pulled off an 80-76 overtime victory over No. 18 Clemson on Tuesday night, securing a resume-boosting road win and snapping the Tigers’ nine-game winning streak.
Darrion Williams posted 17 points, Quadir Copeland added 16 points and Paul McNeil Jr. provided 10 points as the Wolfpack topped a ranked team for the first time in four chances this season and made up for a dismal home loss to Georgia Tech three days earlier.
NC State (13-6, 4-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) gained its first road triumph against a ranked team since February of 2021 while knocking Clemson (16-4, 6-1) out of a chance to stay even atop the conference standings.
RJ Godfrey collected 16 points, Carter Welling had 14 points and Ace Buckner came off the bench for 12 points for the Tigers, who were outscored 22-15 on free throws. Clemson hadn’t lost in six weeks.
NC State won while shooting 43.9% from the field, winning its third straight road game to begin conference play.
Williams hit a 3-pointer with 2:40 left in the extra session, and the Wolfpack led the rest of the way. Lubin had four points in overtime, including two free throws with 18 seconds left for a 78-74 edge. The Tigers followed with a turnover.
NC State was 22-for-25 at the free-throw line.
After the Wolfpack led 36-25 late in the first half, the Tigers ended the half on an 8-2 run to cut the halftime lead to 38-33.
Clemson finally pulled even on Welling’s two free throws with three minutes left. Godfrey gave Clemson the lead with a basket, but Williams sank two foul shots with one minute to play.
The Wolfpack regained possession following a Clemson miss, taking a timeout with 23 seconds left to set up a final play. A turnover thwarted that, so the teams went to overtime.
The Tigers finished with 13 turnovers compared to seven by NC State, including three in the second half and overtime combined.
The game marked the return of NC State coach Will Wade to his alma mater, where he was a student manager and then a graduate assistant from 2005-07.
–Field Level Media
