Hurricanes fall to Ross, Wolfpack

RALEIGH, N.C. — Ernest Ross scored on a go-ahead putback in traffic with 33 seconds left in overtime and North Carolina State made a pair of late stops to hold off No. 16 Miami 83-81 on Saturday.

The late basket was part of a huge day for Ross, a 6-foot-9 second-year forward. He finished with career highs of 17 points and nine rebounds for the Wolfpack

(14-4, 4-3 Atlantic Coast Conference), who blew a double-digit lead against the Hurricanes for the second time this year but found a way to respond.

Terquavion Smith scored 20 points to lead the Wolfpack. Big man DJ Burns had 13 points, nine rebounds and seven assists as N.C. State ran a chunk of its secondhalf offense through him in the middle.

Isaiah Wong had 25 points and six rebounds to lead Miami (14-3,

5-2), while Jordan Miller had 13 and an overtime-forcing 3-pointer over Ross with 28.6 seconds left in regulation.

Miami shot 56.9% for the game and erased a 10-point halftime deficit. The Hurricanes had rallied from 16 down to win 80-73 in the first meeting at home Dec. 10.

Miami had two chances late to tie or take the lead, but after Ross’ putback Bensley Joseph missed a

3-pointer, with Ross securing the rebound and adding a free throw to push the margin to two.

On the Hurricanes’ final possession, Wong drove into the paint but N.C. State’s Jarkel Joiner came over to help defensively and knocked the ball loose. That sent Wong to the floor to grab it and set off

a scrum before a tie-up with 0.2 seconds left gave the ball back to the Wolfpack.

Joiner’s long inbounds heave to — fittingly — Ross across half-court ran out the last of the clock, with Ross raising both hands in victory to the air.

Big picture: Miami: The Hurricanes’ strong start to the season carried them from unranked to as high as No. 12 in the AP Top 25. They had started 4-0 in the ACC before a loss at Georgia Tech. They responded by shooting 60% against Boston College in Wednesday’s

win, but fell to 3-2 on the road this season with Saturday’s loss.

N.C. State: The Wolfpack entered with with five wins in six games, the past two being a romp against a ranked Duke team and a win at Virginia Tech, with N.C. State never trailing in either game.

This one proved tougher when the Hurricanes made their second-half push, but the Wolfpack responded to improve to 2-1 against ranked opponents this year.

KARL B DEBLAKER/AP Miami’s Isaiah Wong (2) tries to gather in a loose ball with North Carolina State’s Ernest Ross (24) and Jarkel Joiner, back, nearby during the second half of Saturday’s game in Raleigh, N.C.