No. 15 Wolfpack Falls to 12th-Ranked Tar Heels

Braxton Beverly scores a career-high 21 points in defeat

RALEIGH — The No. 15 NC State men’s basketball team fell to No. 12 UNC-Chapel Hill, 90-82, inside PNC Arena Tuesday night. With the loss, the Wolfpack drops to 13-2 on the season and 1-1 in conference play, while the Tar Heels improve to 12-3 overall and 2-0 in the ACC.

Braxton Beverly had a career night for the Wolfpack, tallying 21 points on 5-of-7 shooting from three-point range.

DJ Funderburk added 15 points off-the-bench, while CJ Bryce (13), Torin Dorn (12) and Markell Johnson (11) also reached double figures.

The game marked the fourth time this season that NC State has had five Pack players post double-digits in the same outing.

The Pack entered the game second in the ACC – and seventh in the NCAA DI – in rebounding margin, averaging to outrebound its opponents by 10.9 rebounds per game, but the Tar Heels outrebounded the Pack by 18 on Tuesday night.

Dorn led NC State with 10 rebounds, but UNC had three players reach double figures in rebounding.

The Pack never led in the game, but twice tied the game in the second half and remained within striking distance of the Tar Heels until the final seconds.

NC State forced four turnovers in the final minute and half of play to draw within four (82-78), but UNC-Chapel Hill proved steady at the free throw line in the closing minutes and converted all six of its free throw attempts.

The Pack opened the game by missing its first eight field goal attempts which allowed UNC to run out to a 12-0 lead. The Pack trailed by as many as 14 in the first half, but a 10-0 run helped NC State get back in the game as the Pack went into halftime trailing, 47-42.

The Pack’s bench outscored the Tar Heels’ bench 35-0 in the first half with Beverly and Funderburk combining to score 28 points in the opening 20 minutes.

NC State will be back at home Saturday, Jan. 12 as it hosts Pittsburgh at 12 p.m. inside PNC Arena.