No. 25 Missouri 68, North Carolina State 64: Jordan Clarkson scored 21 points while Earnest Ross added 11 points and a career high-tying 13 rebounds as the visiting Tigers edged the Wolfpack.
Jabari Brown poured in 17 points for Missouri (11-1), which rebounded from last Saturday’s one-point loss against Illinois with its first true non-conference road victory since defeating Old Dominion on Dec. 30, 2011. Johnathan Williams tallied 10 points and seven rebounds for the Tigers and hit a free throw in the final seconds to make it a two-possession game.
T.J. Warren scored 24 points and matched a career high with 13 rebounds for North Carolina State (9-3), which saw its seven-game winning streak snapped. Desmond Lee contributed 12 points while Kyle Washington chipped in 10 to round out the three Wolfpack players who finished in double figures.
Warren scored 10 of his team’s first 16 points before Ralston Turner and Lee drained back-to-back 3-pointers to give North Carolina State a 10-point advantage with 7:20 left before intermission. Brown and Ross combined for 11 points over the remainder of the half to rally Missouri within 32-30 at the break.
After falling behind by 10 again in the second half, the Tigers knocked down two straight 3-pointers to knot it at 54 and took the lead for the first time at 57-56 on Clarkson’s three-point play. The lead changed hands three times over the next 2½ minutes before Brown nailed a 3-pointer with 56 seconds left and Clarkson drained a pair of free throws 37 seconds later.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Warren, who entered Saturday averaging an ACC-high 23.9 points, became only the second player of the six top 65 Division I scorers Missouri has faced to reach or exceed his season average. … Clarkson, Ross and Brown have accounted for 67.6 percent of Missouri’s scoring this season. … Saturday marked the first meeting between the schools in exactly 18 years.
Missouri | N.C. State | |
Jordan Clarkson 21 | Scoring | T.J. Warren 24 |
Jordan Clarkson 4 | Assists | Anthony Barber 6 |
Earnest Ross 13 | Rebounds | T.J. Warren 13 |
Jordan Clarkson 9 | Free Throws Made | Desmond Lee 4 |
Tony Criswell 2 | Steals | T.J. Warren 2 |
Ryan Rosburg 1 | Blocks | Beejay Anya 2 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Missouri | 68 | 40.4 | 7-18 | 19-26 | 9 | 34 | 2 | 6 | 10 |
N.C. State | 64 | 41.0 | 6-21 | 8-14 | 17 | 29 | 6 | 3 | 8 |