NC State has rematch with Texas in NCAA Tournament

NC State plays a team that it won’t be unfamiliar with in a First Four game in Dayton, Ohio.

Texas won a shootout against NC State 102-97 in the Maui Invitational on Nov. 26 in Hawaii. At the time, Texas improved to 6-2 overall, and ended up finishing 18-14 overall and 9-9 in the SEC. The Longhorns lost 76-66 in the first round of the SEC Tournament last Wednesday.

Related link: 2026 NCAA Tournament Field of 68 teams, March Madness bracket revealed

Texas coach Sean Miller, the older brother of former NCSU point guard Archie Miller, who is now the Rhode Island coach, was a Wolfpack assistant coach from 1996-2001. He went on to eventually be the head coach at Xavier (twice), Arizona and in his first year at Texas.

Miller has gone 22-13 in NCAA Tournament, with four trips to the Elite Eight. NC State The winner of NC State (20-13 overall) and Texas at 9:15 p.m. Tuesday will play No. 6-seeded BYU on Thursday in Portland, Ore.

Texas had six players in double figures in the win over NC State with former Oregon State point guard Jordan Pope going off from three-point land. The senior went 7 of 13 from beyond the arc for 28 points, and then athletic senior wing Chendall Weaver proved a problem off the bench, with 17 points, eight rebounds and 3 of 5 on three-pointers.

NC State senior point guard Quadir Copeland had 28 points to lead the Wolfpack, with senior center Ven-Allen Lubin getting 23 points and nine rebounds, and sophomore wing Paul McNeil added 20.

Texas junior power forward Dailyn Swain, a Xavier transfer that followed Miller to Austin, Texas, leads the Longhorns with 17.8 points, 7.6 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game. Florida Atlantic 7-foot sophomore center transfer Matas Vokietaitis is second with 15.5 points and 6.8 rebounds a contest.

Former Houston and Arkansas wing transfer Tramon Mark is averaging 13.5 points and the aforementioned Pope is averaging 13.3 points and shooting 37.5 percent from three-point land.

Former Purdue transfer Camden Heide, a junior stretch four, is shooting 45.9 percent from three-point land and has started 25 of 31 games this season.

Texas’ best win in the non-conference was NC State, but also had a bad loss against Arizona State. The Longhorns also fell to Duke, Virginia and Connecticut.

Texas had wins over ranked Alabama, Vanderbilt and Georgia in SEC action, but eded the year with five losses over its last six games, with the lone win 76-70 at Texas A&M on Feb. 28.

Maryland-Baltimore County plays Howard in a battle of No. 16 seeds in Dayton on Tuesday.

Miami (Ohio) plays SMU in the other play-in game in Dayton on Wednesday, with the winner getting No. 6-seeded Tennessee. Lehigh and Prairie View will also play Wednesday in a play-in contest.