NC State Snaps Three Game Losing Skid vs Notre Dame, 66-65

January 9, 2025 

Raleigh, NC- Marcus Hill scored a late bucket with 67 seconds remaining to tie the game at 65. Ben Middlebrooks made 1-2 free throws to take the lead. Dontrez Styles denied Notre Dame’s shot attempt. This allowed the NC State Wolfpack to snap their losing streak. NC State beat Notre Dame in Raleigh 66–65 to move to .500 in ACC play on Wednesday night. NC State with the win handed Notre Dame their third straight loss. 

With the loss, the Irish falls to 7-8 overall and 1-3 in the ACC. Meanwhile, the Wolfpack improves to 9-6 overall and 2-2 in the conference. 

Marcus Hill also scored 15 points for the Wolfpack along with four rebounds and four assists. Scoring in double figures for NC State was also Ben Middlebrooks, Jayden Taylor, and Dontrez Styles. NC State shot 43.6 percent from the field with Notre Dame shooting 46.2 percent. The Fighting Irish outrebounded the Wolfpack 34-29 and committed ten turnovers to NC State’s seven. NC State scored fifteen fast-break points to just two for the Irish. 

NC State led by as many as six points. They achieved this thanks to defensive pressure. However, they trailed the Irish by seven at the half. While the Wolfpack played more aggressively in the second half, they were behind most of the night. The game was won in the final two minutes where Notre Dame would not score the rest of the way. Defensively NC State struggled allowing Notre Dame to shoot 52% in the first half. 

For Notre Dame they had to be encouraged by the play of Tae Davis and Kebba Njie. Both forwards were key contributors in the game especially when Markus Burton and Braeden Shrewsberry combined for 10-of-27 shooting and 5-of-14 from deep. Tae Davis finished with 14 points 5-of-10 shooting with 7 rebounds and 6 assists, while Njie had 10 points and 11 rebounds. All five starters scored in double figures. One key difference was turnover points where the Wolfpack had a 9-2 advantage. 

One Takeaway for each team

NC State: Points in the Paint 

Both teams dominated in the paint as NC State scored twenty-four to Notre Dame’s twenty-eight. NC State won their first game this season to improve 1-6 overall when being outscored in the paint. For much of the night, NC State struggled to find gaps in the Irish zone for easy cuts to the basket. They were 1 of 5 on layups to Notre Dame’s 6 of 8. They trailed at half 16-6 in point in the paint. In the second half, the Wolfpack improved in the layups finishing 9 of 16. In their wins they averaged 41.8 points in the lane with just 24.6 points in the losses. 

Notre Dame: Inability to Close 

In a game that featured 11 lead changes, Notre Dame built a 33-23 lead before halftime and led 63-56 with 3:36 remaining. NC State stormed back late finishing on a 10-2 run to deny the Irish their second ACC road game in the last 23 games. It was the second straight one point loss dropping the Irish to 1-4 in games decided by 5 points or less. 

Notre Dame is back in action on Saturday in the state of North Carolina vs #4 Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium at 12 pm. N.C. State is home against the University of North Carolina on Saturday at 4 pm at the Lenovo Center.