Men’s Basketball | N.C. State edges No. 20 Villanova
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - Gavin Grant remembered how it felt when North Carolina State lost at the wire.
Heartbreaking, then exhausting.
Grant helped the Wolfpack return the favor Sunday night, making two of three free throws with 0.4 seconds left to beat 20th-ranked Villanova 69-68 in the Old Spice Classic championship game.
It was N.C. State’s second down-to-the-wire game in eight days. The Wolfpack lost to New Orleans on Nov. 18 on a last-second three-pointer that knocked it out of the Top 25.
“I was relieved because we didn’t have to have one of those practices again. After the New Orleans game, we had a track practice,” Grant said. “I was just happy for me and my teammates that we don’t have to go through that again.”
The Wildcats (4-1) seemed to secure the win when Dante Cunningham tipped in a missed layup with 2.2 seconds remaining, but Cunningham fouled Grant the next trip on a three-point attempt.
Grant missed the first free throw, then made the next two. Villanova’s long inbounds pass bounced off some hands, then up and off the backboard.
“This was a great tournament for us,” Wolfpack coach Sidney Lowe said. “I think we grew a lot in a four-day, five-day period, just being away and just us together down here in this event.”
Courtney Fells scored 21 points for N.C. State (4-1), while J.J. Hickson and Grant each added 15.
Villanova freshman Corey Fisher scored 21 points, several on impressive floaters from acrobatic drives in the lane. Scottie Reynolds added 13 points.
“This is why you play in these tournaments and get this experience,” Villanova coach Jay Wright said. “I wish we didn’t have to learn this way, but we do.”
Other Top 25 games
At No. 13 Duke 78,
Eastern Kentucky 43
Freshman Taylor King scored a career-high 27 points to lead the Blue Devils (6-0) to a rout of the Colonels (2-3).
DeMarcus Nelson had 12 points and Gerald Henderson added 10 for the Blue Devils, who played their first game on the mainland since winning the Maui Invitational in Hawaii and showed no effects of jet lag.
Adam Leonard scored 12 points for Eastern Kentucky.
No. 18 Kansas St. 82, Rider 69
Andre Gilbert scored 22 points, Jacob Pullen added 19 and the Wildcats (5-1) beat the Broncs (3-3) in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
Kansas State freshman Michael Beasley had 13 points and 10 rebounds - his sixth double-double in as many games.