NC State Drops Road Finale At Auburn

After winning their first two games on the road at UNCG and at Wake Forest to begin the road trip NC State dropped their road finale at 12th ranked Auburn before returning to North Carolina’s state capital to host The Citadel on Sunday.

The Pack took a 64-62 lead with 5:23 remaining in the game on a Braxton Beverly lay-up, but went scoreless for the next four minutes as Auburn went on a 10-0 run to take control of the game. “according to https://gopack.com/news/2019/12/19/mens-basketball-late-run-sinks-pack-at-no-12-auburn.aspx
 
NC State was able to cut the deficit to five, but Auburn hit its final four free throw attempts of the game to prevent the Pack comeback.
The teams combined to be called for 50 fouls and Auburn finished the game with 36 free throw attempts.”according to https://gopack.com/news/2019/12/19/mens-basketball-late-run-sinks-pack-at-no-12-auburn.aspx

C.J. Bryce led the Pack with his third double-double of the season, finishing with 21 points and 11 rebounds. The Charlotte native was 7-of-15 from the field, including 3-of-4 from three-point range. “according to https://gopack.com/news/2019/12/19/mens-basketball-late-run-sinks-pack-at-no-12-auburn.aspx

Markell Johnson also finished with a double-double, his first of the season, with 17 points and a season-best 10 assists. Johnson now has 463 assists this season and moved past Julius Hodge during the game into fifth-place on the NC State career assist list. “according to https://gopack.com/news/2019/12/19/mens-basketball-late-run-sinks-pack-at-no-12-auburn.aspx
 
D.J. Funderburk also finished in double figures for NC State with 12 points off-the-bench.”according to https://gopack.com/news/2019/12/19/mens-basketball-late-run-sinks-pack-at-no-12-auburn.aspx

Auburn led for a majority of the second half, but the Pack never let the Tigers run away. Auburn led 46-40, but NC State went on a 9-2 run to retake the lead 49-48 with 13:07 to go. “according to https://gopack.com/news/2019/12/19/mens-basketball-late-run-sinks-pack-at-no-12-auburn.aspx

The Tigers went on an 11-5 run to take a 59-54 lead, but NC State had another push in it, going on a 10-3 run to take its final lead of the game, 64-62. “according to https://gopack.com/news/2019/12/19/mens-basketball-late-run-sinks-pack-at-no-12-auburn.aspx

Auburn held a 38-37 lead at halftime. “according to https://gopack.com/news/2019/12/19/mens-basketball-late-run-sinks-pack-at-no-12-auburn.aspx

NC State jumped out to a 10-5 lead as Bryce scored seven quick points. The Pack held a 14-11 lead when Auburn went on a 15-2 run to take a 26-16 lead.”according to https://gopack.com/news/2019/12/19/mens-basketball-late-run-sinks-pack-at-no-12-auburn.aspx

The Pack responded with a 15-2 run of its own, taking a 31-28 lead on a Funderburk basket with 6:03 left in the half.”according to https://gopack.com/news/2019/12/19/mens-basketball-late-run-sinks-pack-at-no-12-auburn.aspx

NC State outrebounded Auburn, 41-38, and also had 10 steals. “according to https://gopack.com/news/2019/12/19/mens-basketball-late-run-sinks-pack-at-no-12-auburn.aspx

While NC State had a setback on the last leg of their road trip before returning to Raleigh to host the Citadel Auburn who is ranked 12th in this weeks AP Top 25 poll remained unbeaten and improved their record to 10-0.

It was physical all night. A back-and-forth battle between two quality teams. For a brief moment down the stretch, Auburn gave up the lead. Nobody flinched.   “according to https://auburntigers.com/news/2019/12/19/mens-basketball-late-run-sparks-no-12-auburn-in-79-73-win-over-nc-state.aspx

The Tigers responded with a 10-0 run over the next three minutes and eventually pulled away for a 79-73 victory over North Carolina State on Thursday night in front of a sold-out crowd at Auburn Arena to avenge last year's loss to the Wolfpack in Raleigh. “according to https://auburntigers.com/news/2019/12/19/mens-basketball-late-run-sparks-no-12-auburn-in-79-73-win-over-nc-state.aspx

The 10-0 run started when Samir Doughty made a tough basket inside to tie the game. Then following a North Carolina State turnover, Austin Wiley gave the Tigers the lead back with a thunderous dunk in transition. After four straight made free throws, J'Von McCormick brought the crowd to its feet once again with a layup plus the foul to make it 10 straight Auburn points. “according to https://auburntigers.com/news/2019/12/19/mens-basketball-late-run-sparks-no-12-auburn-in-79-73-win-over-nc-state.aspx

As a team, the Tigers held the Wolfpack to 73 points – 10 points below their season average. “according to https://auburntigers.com/news/2019/12/19/mens-basketball-late-run-sparks-no-12-auburn-in-79-73-win-over-nc-state.aspx