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Marquette skips past N.C. State

RALEIGH, N.C. — Remember that swagger Dominic James had just a few seasons ago?

It’s back.

The senior guard, who made his reputation as one of college basketball’s clutch performers as a freshman and sophomore by knocking down big shots with the game on the line, delivered for the Marquette Golden Eagles once again Monday night.

His long three-pointer from the top of the key with 0.4 of a second left propelled Marquette to a thrilling 68-65 victory over North Carolina State in front of a stunned crowd of 16,819 at the RBC Center, sending the Golden Eagles into Christmas with the best gift of all.

“Getting to go home and see my little girl, that’s going to be the biggest present,” said James, referring to his baby daughter, Nora. “This (shot) probably ranks No. 1 for me because it’s Coach’s first road win, and it’s big for this team. I’m living in the moment.”

James, who scored 11 of his 18 points and hit 3 of his 4 three-pointers in the second half, set the stage for his winner by helping force a turnover at the other end of the court. He got the ball to midcourt with about 25 seconds to go, and coach Buzz Williams called a timeout to set up the final play.

“Everybody knew the play we were going to run,” Williams said. “But I wanted to make sure we took the last shot. That’s what I told them, ’We’re not engaging in the play until 8 seconds.’ “

James got the ball on the ensuing inbounds play and dribbled the clock down to the 8-second mark before making a move toward the basket. N.C. State attempted to trap him about 35 feet away from the basket, but he was able to split it and work himself open for the shot.

“I came off the right side and the big man hedged all the way out, like they had been all game,” James said. “(Dwight) Burke made the play of the game by re-screening. He made an excellent read, I saw the space and just let it fly.”

Said N.C. State coach Sidney Lowe: “That’s a tough loss for us. Their seniors stepped up and made big plays, and made shots for them. We made a couple mistakes on the defensive end, and (James) made us pay for it. We didn’t want James to get the last shot.”

The Golden Eagles (10-2), who earlier in the day fell out of the Associated Press’ top 25 for the first time this season, shot a sizzling 60.9 percent in the final 20 minutes (14 for 23). They rallied from a 35-32 halftime deficit to knock off an N.C. State team that used halftime to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the Wolfpack’s 1974 NCAA title, one that came at the expense of Marquette.

Jerel McNeal led the way with 20 points for Marquette and Lazar Hayward added 16, with 12 of those coming in the first half. Brandon Costner scored 24 points to pace the Wolfpack (7-2).

Both teams came out firing to open the second half.

After a pair of turnovers, Marquette knocked down five straight shots, with McNeal accounting for four of those. The fourth, a fallaway jumper from the free-throw line, put him into the exclusive 1,500-point, 500-rebound club in the Marquette record book.

N.C. State kept pace, going ahead by 46-42 until turnovers on four consecutive possessions let the Golden Eagles pull even with 14:05 left.

The lead changed hands three times from there until Marquette looked to have established control on consecutive threes by James, the second of which made it 65-59 with 3:02 left. But the Wolfpack pulled back to even in the blink of an eye, with Courtney Fells and Costner knocking down treys of their own.

Big man Ben McCauley had a chance to put N.C. State up after Hayward was whistled for a charge, but clanked both free throws. Then, after a miss by Hayward, McCauley coughed up the ball in a double-team by James and Burke.

James was able to corral the loose ball and get it to midcourt, where Williams called a full timeout to set up the final play.