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Texas outshoots NC State to win barnburner in Maui, 102-97

by: Keenan Womack15 hours ago

One of the most exciting games of the young season occurred tonight in Hawaii for the great honor of fifth place in the Maui Invitational. Like a narcissistic ex, the refereeing crew continued to butt in and try to make it about them, calling 48 personal fouls resulting in 61 free-throw attempts.

Essentially, the officials throughout this entire tournament were Patrick Bateman in American Psycho. You know the scene to which I’m referring; it involves a mirror and some other unsavory details I won’t mention. This is a family site!

Despite the refs’ best efforts, the game was still wildly entertaining, as Texas notched their first win against high-major competition in 2025 after going 0-2 against Duke and Arizona State.

Player of the game

Jordan Pope fried the Wolfpack like my father-in-law fries a Thanksgiving turkey (shouts out to Brian). A blistering 7-for-13 from deep helped him to tie Quadir Copeland for most points scored in the contest at 28, but context matters; every time the Wolfpack made a run, retook the lead, or made things uncomfortable for the Longhorns, Pope stepped up for a big shot, doing so off the dribble or off of pin-down actions designed to spring him loose for open looks.

Widespread scoring

There were five players that scored over 17 points in this game, and four that scored over 20.

Texas:

  • Jordan Pope: 28 points, 4 assists, 7-13 3PFG
  • Chendall Weaver: 17 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists

NC State:

  • Quadir Copeland: 28 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists, 10-14 FG
  • Ven-Allen Lubin: 23 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 10-14 FG
  • Paul McNeil: 20 points, 3 rebounds, 6-11 FG

Notably, the Longhorns held star Darrion Williams to a very tough 10 points on 3-for-10 from the field, and also managed to foul him out. As I mentioned in the pregame piece, the way that Will Wade instructs his wings and forwards play help over the nail and bump cutters could result in fouls, especially with this particular reffing crew.

Role reversal

Texas had up until this point been bludgeoning people on the offensive glass to compete in Maui, but today, they played much more of a finesse style, and much more in the image of Sean Miller’s ideal squad on the offensive end. 16-for-32 from deep and just six offensive boards was not what anyone expected.

NC State also managed to dominate Texas near the rim to the tune of a 46-20 advantage in paint points, something that the Longhorns had hung their hat on throughout the last week. Of course, the last time I checked, three points is more than two, and if your team is shooting 50% from beyond the arc, you just have to let it fly.

Implications going forward

Texas is not going to shoot 50% from beyond the arc often, but hopefully they can channel some of this energy going forward and become at least a threat to space the floor. If they can be above average from deep, they can be a real problem considering their strength in the paint.

This game is also vastly important for resume building – considering the ‘Horns were 0-2 against high-major teams this year, getting a win against a very talented roster should be not just a boost to their tournament hopes, but their confidence as well. They play a lot of quad-4 games in the near future, with matchups against Virginia at home and UConn on the road mixed in, so getting this one was important.

They take on UVA next Wednesday, December 3, at the Moody Center.

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