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Auburn's Kevin Overton continuing trend of perimeter players having big games vs. NC State

Jacey Zembalby: Jacey Zembal12/04/25JaceyZembal

NC State is having a hard time keeping perimeter players in check of late.

Seton Hall senior wing A.J. Staton-McCray had 22 points and made three three-pointers in a 85-74 win at the Maui Invitational.

Texas senior point guard Jordan Pope followed up with an impressive 7 of 13 on three-pointers en route to 28 points in a 102-97 victory. Senior reserve guard Chendall Weaver chipped in 17 points and three three-pointers.

Auburn rode the one-two punch of senior forward Keyshawn Hall and junior shooting guard Kevin Overton, with the duo combining for 57 points and 11 of 16 from three-point land in a 83-73 win over NC State on Wednesday in the ACC/SEC Challenge.

It could be expected for Hall, who was one of the big prizes in the transfer portal after a banner year at Central Florida. With Overton, it was a big surprise.

Overton twice hit five three-pointers his freshman year at Drake, and he made four three-pointers in three games in an up-and-down sophomore year at Texas Tech, where he played with NC State señior power forward Darrion Williams. How uneven was Overton’s year? He cracked 10-plus points in two of his last 10 games with the Red Raiders. He scored 10-plus points in 11 games for the 28-9 Texas Tech program.

Overton hadn’t scored more than 13 points in Auburn’s first eight games, but he exploded to shoot 6 of 9 on three-pointers en route to 29 points and nine boards.

NCSU coach Will Wade kept his message positive on the Wolfpack Radio Network following the loss.

“Saw a lot more positive stuff tonight than I saw in Maui, I’ll tell you that,” Wade said. “It’s not good enough. We have to be better with some things defensively. We changed a few things and thought it worked, and we turned them over quite a bit [20 Auburn turnovers].”

NC State fell to 0-3 against high-major opponents this season with losses against Seton Hall, Texas and Auburn. The Wolfpack return to action Saturday against North Carolina-Asheville, but have a home game against Kansas looming Dec. 13, and vs. Mississippi in Dec. 21 in Greensboro, N.C.

“We’ve missed out on some big-time opportunities between Maui and this,” Wade said. “We got five non-conference games left, and our backs are against the wall.

“If we want to get to the NCAA Tournament, we have to get to work. We don’t have any mulligans left.”