Raleigh, NC- SMU freshman Samet Yigitoglu scored 20 points and BJ Edwards hit a clutch three point shot late in the second half to lift SMU to a 63-57 victory over N.C. State on Saturday afternoon at the Lenovo Center. This was the fourth straight loss for the Wolfpack while the Mustangs are now 6-3 in conference play and 15-5 overall.
The Mustangs were up 34-26 at the break. The 7-foot-2 freshman from Istanbul opened the second half by scoring their first eight points. This pushed the advantage to 13 points, 42-29. After hitting 5 of 9 shots from beyond the arc in the first half the Mustangs missed their first six shots from distance in the second half.
The Wolfpack rallied from a 15-point second-half deficit to trail 54-51 after a Marcus Hill bucket. Down the stretch, Ben Middlebrooks took a rebound away from Yigitoglu in the paint. He was fouled and then hit both free throws with 3:21 to play. This made it a one-point game, 56-55.
BJ Edwards answered with SMU’s lone second-half 3 and Yigitoglu hit four straight free throws in the final two minutes to seal the victory.
N.C. State has been in six single-possession games since ACC play began in December. It added a seventh on Saturday and has won just two of those matchups. The Wolfpack’s inability to close games has officially become a problem. After a week off, N.C. State looked like a renewed team that played with energy. The Pack started on an 8-0 run, its early lead fueled by efficiency on both ends of the floor.
Marcus Hill scored 14 points, grabbed two rebounds, and had two steals for N.C. State which has lost six of its past seven games. The Wolfpack fell to 9-10 overall and 2-6 in conference play. Dontrez Styles had 12 points and Jayden Taylor also had 11 points and three steals.
SMU shot 43.4% from the field to NC State’s 29.2%. Both teams struggled from deep, the Mustangs were 6-of-16 and NC State 4-of-24. SMU edged out the Wolfpack in rebounds 43-35 with 13 more defensive rebounds. Wolfpack had 9 steals and turned the ball over just 6 times. SMU doubled up the Wolfpack in points in the paint 32-16 and both teams committed 14 turnovers. SMU has won 4 of the past 5 and 11 of the past 14. They are 7-2 away from Moody Coliseum and improve to 4-1 on the road in ACC games.
Down the stretch
● NC State got within 56-55 with 3:21 left
● B.J. Edwards 3FG at 2:55
● Samet Yiğitoğlu hit 2FTs at 1:59 & again at 0:18
SMU Notes
● 15-0 run to go up 31-22 at 2:32 1st half
● SMU was 7-10 on FGs and held NCSU to 0-9 on FGs during the run ● SMU has 20 runs of at least 10-0 this season
● SMU started the game down 8-0 before leading 34-26 at halftime (34-18 over last 16:22 of 1st half)
● 26-13 bridging the halves to go up 42-29 at 15:50 2nd half
SMU heads home to face California on Wednesday. NC State heads down the street to Durham to face red hot #2 Duke on Monday.
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