Warren leads NC State by Pittsburgh, 74-67

Warren leads NC State by Pittsburgh, 74-67

PITTSBURGH

T.J. Warren scored a career-high 41 points and N.C. State surged past Pittsburgh 74-67 on Monday night. Warren’s eighth 30-point game of the year gave the Wolfpack’s flagging NCAA tournament hopes a needed boost. N.C. State (18-12, 8-9 ACC) won for just the second time in its last six games, riding Warren for much of the second half.

Josh Newkirk led Pitt (22-8, 10-7) with a career-high 20 points but the Panthers had no answer for Warren. Not that Pitt didn’t try.

The Panthers threw a series of players at Warren, from Lamar Patterson to defensive specialist Cam Wright to power forward Jamel Artis. They even mixed up the defense, running zone at some point while mixing in a little man-to-man and the occasional double team.

The Panthers controlled play for long stretches in the first half but only led 36-31 at the break, with the Wolfpack doing their best work when Warren finally got some help. Pitt appeared on the verge of blowing out N.C. State only to get sloppy at the end of the half.