PITTSBURGH — Ben Middlebrooks had a career-high 21 points, Mohamed Diala added a career-best 17 points and 12 rebounds, and No. 11 seed North Carolina State beat No. 6 Texas Tech 80-67. and continued his astonishing march. The first round of the NCAA Tournament was held on Thursday night. DJ Horn had 16 points, six rebounds and five assists for the Wolfpack, and DJ Barnes Jr. had 16 points (23-14). The Wolfpack needed just five wins in five days to make it this far and claim the ACC Tournament title as a No. 10 seed. . They will now face No. 14 seed Oakland in the South Division on Saturday for a spot in the Sweet 16. Diarra scored 12 points in the second half and the Wolfpack made 14 of 23 from the field (60.9 percent). North Carolina State finished the game outscoring Texas Tech 50.9 percent to 38.7 percent. Joe Toussaint led Texas Tech (23-11) with 16 points. Pop Isaacs had 12 points and Darrion Williams had 10 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Middlebrooks and Barnes were in the paint to help NC State beat Texas Tech 42-20. Neither team led by more than four points until NC State took a 10-0 lead late in the first half. Casey Morsell's corner 3-pointer in transition and Middlebrooks' layup and foul shot gave the Wolfpack a 37-30 lead. But Toussaint bounced back from his teammate's mistake and set up Williams' buzzer-beater from the right corner, bringing Texas Tech within four points at halftime. The Red Raiders cut the deficit to two points twice early in the second half, before the Wolfpack escaped with a 9-0 victory. Horn made a 3-point play and Diarra dunked on a fast break. Horn then got a steal and fed Morsell in transition before Barnes' floater capped off the spurt, giving NC State its largest lead at the time at 61-49. Barnes cut the deficit to 65-51 for the Wolfpack with 6:38 left and another bucket in the post. The 275-pounder was 9 of 12 in the ACC Championship Game and 8 of 11 in the semifinals before that. A finger roll by Middlebrooks made it 70-56 with about four minutes left and essentially decided the game. The Red Raiders missed 14 of 16 shots from the field late in the game, but Kerwin Walton made 2 of 3 3-pointers to reduce the lopsided final lead. –Adam Zielonka, Field Level Media
