March 7, 2026; Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; NC State Wolfpack forward Ben Allen Rubin (22) competes for the basket with Stanford Cardinals forward Jaylen Thompson (24) in the first half at Lenovo Center. Mandatory Credit: Zachary Taft-Imagn Image Ebuka Okorie eclipsed 30 points for the seventh time this season, Jaylen Thompson accounted for most of the scoring during a 12-1 second-half run, and Stanford completed the Atlantic Coast Conference regular season with an impressive 85-84 road win over North Carolina State on Saturday afternoon in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Okorie, the ACC’s leading scorer entering the final day of the regular season, led the Cardinal (20-11, 9-9) with 33 points, and the Cardinal’s fourth straight win gave the school its second straight 20-win season under coach Kyle Smith.
Ven-Allen Lubin’s 17 points led a balanced attack for the Wolfpack (19-12, 10-8). Despite taking a 58-55 lead following a Matt Able 3-pointer with 11:06 remaining, the Wolfpack lost its fourth straight game and fell one win short of a 20-win campaign.
Benny Gealer pulled Stanford to 58 with a 3-pointer 33 seconds later, and a dunk by Thompson after Scottie Ebube’s free throw gave the visitors a 60-59 lead with 9:13 left.
Gealer hit another 3-pointer, Thompson made another inside basket and Okorie capped a 12-1 run with a layup for a 67-59 lead with 6:39 to play.
NC State made the game interesting by making it 81-79 on a Quadir Copeland layup with 51 seconds left. A missed free throw by Stanford’s AJ Rohosy gave the Wolfpack a chance to tie or go ahead with a 3-pointer, but Jeremy Dent-Smith stole a pass from Copeland, was fouled and fell on a pair of crucial foul shots with 25 seconds left.
Dent-Smith capped a 10-point performance off the bench with two free throws with 9 seconds left, rendering Paul McNeil Jr.’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer meaningless.
Okorie’s 33 points included 5-for-8 shooting from beyond the arc, helping Stanford outscore the hosts 33-21 from deep.
Thompson finished with 15 points and Rohosy 14 for the Cardinal, with leading rebounders Rohosy and Donavin Young each scoring seven points.
Rubin completed a double-double with a game-high 11 rebounds for NC State, which lost despite a 25-8 edge in free throw points.
Copeland had 16 points for the Wolfpack, Tre Holloman had 15 and Able and McNeil each had 13.
–Field level media
