Huskies Fall To North Carolina State In Second Round of NCAA Championship

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WORCESTER, Mass. (March 20) --- Julius Hodge converted a three-point play in the closing seconds that lifted North Carolina State to a 65-62 victory over the University of Connecticut in the second round of the NCAA Championship in Worcester on Sunday afternoon.

UConn, the 2004 national champions, concludes its season with a 23-8 record while North Carolina State advances to next weekend’s Syracuse Regional and has a 21-13 mark. North Carolina State will take on the winner of Sunday’s Wisconsin vs. Bucknell second round game in a regional semifinal on Friday night.

North Carolina State is a No. 10 seed in the tournament while UConn was a No. 2.

After sophomore forward Charlie Villanueva (Brooklyn, N.Y.) (to the left) picked up a loose ball under the basket and scored to tie the game with 15 seconds left, Hodge took the ball, drove down the right side and banked in a runner with 4.8 seconds remaining as junior Ed Nelson (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) slid underneath him and was called for a block.

Hodge knocked down the free throw and after a desperation 35-footer by sophomore Marcus Williams (Los Angeles, Calif.) came up short, the Wolfpack were back in the regional semifinals for the first time since 1989.

Hodge finished with 17 points and Cameron Bennerman added 15, including a three-pointer with 5:12 remaining to give North Carolina State a 56-45 lead. But Connecticut rebounded for a 17-6 run, including seven from Villanueva, to tie the game with just seconds remaining.

Marcus Williams (to the left) scored a career-high 22 points and Villanueva added 16 and 12 rebounds for a double-double, but both he and center Josh Boone went scoreless against a much smaller front line over a 13-minute period when the Wolfpack overcame a 29-25 halftime deficit and stormed back.

The Wolfpack knocked down 10-of-19 from the arc. Connecticut was two-of-14 on three pointers.