ACC Hoops: Wolfpack Falls By 2 In Season Finale In Miami 

March 8, 2025 

Coral Gables, FL- Brandon Johnson’s putback dunk with 1 second remaining lifted Miami to a 72-70 victory over N.C. State on Saturday. The Hurricanes finished the season on a high note despite the 7-24 overall record. 

The Hurricanes led twice: when they scored first and when they scored last. Although Miami hadn’t led since it was 2-1 and trailed by 13 early in the second half, the Hurricanes got 3-pointers from Matthew Cleveland and A.J. Stanton-McCray to tie the score at 70 with 1:53 remaining. Neither team scored again until Cleveland missed a well-contested layup and Johnson dunked it home to give Miami the lead with 1 second remaining. 

Cleveland matched his season- and career-high with 32 points, Johnson had 10 points and 10 rebounds, and Jalil Bethea scored 10 points for Miami. The Hurricanes closed the game with a 22-8 advantage in fast break points and outscored the Pack, 32-12, in points in the paint. 

For the Wolfpack, Paul McNeil Jr. had 14 points and Brandon Huntley-Hatfield contributed 10. It was their last game of the season and the Wolfpack finished with a 12-19 record. Senior Dontrez Styles closed out his college career with one of his best performances, tying his season high with 24 points while shooting 8-for-13 from the field and 4-for-7 from three. 

A four-point run by Marcus Hill helped the Wolfpack take a 19-10. They led 41-31 at the break and by 13 when Styles opened the second half with a 3-pointer. The Wolfpack led by single digits for about 14 minutes in the second half before going scoreless over the final minutes. The Wolfpack simply hasn’t found a formula for victory this season, and today was no exception. Winning has been so foreign to this squad that they didn’t know how to hold onto what should have been a sure victory.  

In the final 3:41, the Wolfpack went 0-for-3 from the field, committed two turnovers that led to five Miami points, and allowed the Hurricanes to close the game on a 10-0 run.  Looking at the numbers, it’s remarkable that NC State led for nearly the entire game despite shooting just 37% from the field compared to Miami’s 46%. The Wolfpack’s advantage at the free-throw line where they made 10 more than Miami was the key factor that allowed them to maintain control for most of the game.

The dramatic win comes just two days after Jai Lucas was hired to coach the Hurricanes. He comes to Miami after spending the past three seasons at Duke, where he served as associate head coach for two seasons and as an assistant coach for one. He will be introduced at a press conference on Monday. 

Neither team qualified for the 15-team ACC Tournament. N.C. State (12-19, 5-15 ACC) finished in no better than a tie for 16th and Miami (7-24, 3-17 ACC) finished last in the 18-team conference.