NC State Hands a Win to Miami in Final Minutes, Losing 70-72 in Regular Season Finale

The NC State men’s basketball team lost its regular-season finale 72-70 in Miami this afternoon—a result that was unfortunate, yet predictable.

The Wolfpack simply hasn’t found a formula for victory this season, and today was no exception. Winning has been so foreign to this squad that they didn’t know how to hold onto what should have been a sure victory. NC State led by 10 at halftime and was in front for 35:42 of the 40-minute game. The Wolfpack held an eight-point lead with 3:41 left on the clock.

In the final 3:41, the Wolfpack went 0-for-3 from the field, committed two turnovers that led to five Miami points, and allowed the Hurricanes to close the game on a 10-0 run.

With 46 seconds remaining, NC State called a timeout to set up a play. The result? Senior Michael O’Connell drove into the lane for a layup attempt, only to have it blocked, resulting in a shot clock violation.

With 20 seconds left, Miami put the ball in the hands of Matthew Cleveland, who had already racked up 32 points. Cleveland drove into the lane and missed his layup, but Brandon Johnson was waiting midair to throw down a put-back dunk with one second left on the clock.

The Hurricanes led for only 36 seconds, but at the end of the day, the only thing that matters is who has more points when the final buzzer sounds.

Looking at the numbers, it’s remarkable that NC State led for nearly the entire game despite shooting just 37% from the field compared to Miami’s 46%. The Wolfpack’s advantage at the free-throw line—where they made 10 more than Miami—was the key factor that allowed them to maintain control for most of the contest.

Senior Dontrez Styles closed out his college career with one of his best performances, tying his season high with 24 points while shooting 8-for-13 from the field and 4-for-7 from three.

Freshman Paul McNeil and senior Brandon Huntley-Hatfield both came off the bench to score in double figures. McNeil was solid, contributing 14 points on 4-of-8 shooting, including 3-of-7 from three. Huntley-Hatfield added 10 points (4-for-5 FG) and six rebounds.

Just one year removed from winning the 2024 ACC Tournament Championship and advancing to the Final Four, NC State closed out the 2024-25 season with a 12-19 overall record and a 5-15 mark in conference play.