Texas is not known for its long ball, but that’s what it used to defeat N.C. State in the fifth-place matchup to close the Maui Invitational on Wednesday night.

The Wolfpack fell to the Longhorns, 102-97, to go 1-2 in the Thanksgiving week tournament in Hawaii.

“Just not good enough on any facet. I didn’t have us prepared like we needed to, and just very disappointing game today and, quite frankly, just an incredibly disappointing week for us,” head coach Will Wade said. “This is not our standard. This is not what we strive to be. This was [an] extremely, extremely disappointing week.”

N.C. State (5-2) jumped out to a five-point lead in the first half thanks to an effective defensive effort. Texas, however, made 9 of 11 shot attempts during an eight-minute stretch to build a 15-point lead. Of those nine baskets, four were 3-pointers.

The Longhorns (6-2) led by 10 at the break, scoring on 8 of 13 attempts from downtown. They were led by Jordan Pope, who had 17 points in the opening period and made 5 of 7 attempts from downtown. It was his seventh double-figure game of the season.

It took a little time for Texas to find its stride once again from the arc in the second half, but once it did, the Longhorns seemed unstoppable. They effectively broke double teams to find an open man and made great shots in transition. Texas went on a 10-0 run, which included three consecutive 3-point field goals, midway through the second half, which the Wolfpack was unable to overcome.

Texas shot 41 of 134 (30.6%) from 3 in its first six games. It finished 16-32 (50%), for its most efficient 3-point shooting and most 3-point field goals in a game this season.

N.C. State scored 60 points in the second half, its offense flowing far better than it did in the first half.

The Wolfpack can attribute the success — and its comeback attempt — to its effort on both ends of the floor. It was more aggressive on defense, though sometimes too aggressive, and the team moved the ball with more purpose and didn’t take as many contested one-on-one shots. It had 10 assists on 20 made field goals, compared to four assists on 14 baskets in the first half.

Alyn Breed made a layup with eight minutes to go and gave N.C. State a 71-70 lead.

Unfortunately the team couldn’t build on that, with Texas’ 3-point shooting (and its own foul trouble) too much to overcome.

“I apologize to our fans. We had the most fans here,” Wade said. “People sacrificed. People paid hard-earned money to watch us play, and they should be pissed. That’s why we’ve got passionate fans. That’s why we’ve got great fans. They’re upset, and they should be. This isn’t how we should be playing. This isn’t the standard which we play at.”

N.C. State received positive contributions from several players, including Paul McNeil and Ven-Allen Lubin.

McNeil provided a surge of energy to open the game. McNeil scored a pair of baskets, including a layup that ended a 3 ½-minute scoring drought and stretch of five missed shots. McNeil also pulled down two rebounds and one steal in his first 13 minutes of play.

The North Carolina native hit a 3-pointer at the end of the shot clock, cutting N.C. State’s deficit to 10 points at halftime. He added another 3, on a pass from Darrion Williams, with 15 minutes remaining in the game to make it 54-53. McNeil finished with 20 points and a trio of 3-pointers.

Lubin provided the Wolfpack with another big performance. He scored a season-high 23 points, one shy of his career high, and pulled down nine boards. He hit a layup and free throw to tie the game at 64. Lubin scored in double figures all three days of the tournament, including one double-double.

Quadir Copeland also led the team with 28 points, four rebounds and six assists.

One positive was the Wolfpack’s aggression off the glass. This area was always going to be a challenge for N.C. State, which was still out-rebounded 31-28, but it was facing one of the best rebounding teams in the country.

Texas entered the game ranked No. 9 in the nation for total rebounds per game (45.9) and No. 14 in defensive rebounds per game (31.1), but was held under its average.

Pope led the Longhorns with 28 points, including seven baskets from long range, and added four assists.

“This is a disappointing feeling. We let a lot of people down,” Copeland said. “We had so many fans here. Apologize to the guys that came here and supported us. We had so many people here. We let them down. We let ourselves down. We let the staff down. We’re going to be better from this.”

Cutting off easy baskets

Wolfpack coach Will Wade’s ideal half-court defensive set is one that keeps the ball in the midrange and beyond.

“The ball doesn’t touch the paint. You keep the ball out of the paint, you force a non-paint shot, you contest the non-paint shot, and you’ve got a better chance to rebound,” Wade said before leaving for Hawaii. “I mean, that’s simplistic.”

N.C. State, which has averaged 26.7 opponent paint points per game, did a better job shutting down the interior against Texas. The defense collapsed the paint and held Texas to six points inside the lane through the first 13 minutes of play. At halftime, the Longhorns had scored 10 points in the paint.

The Wolfpack ultimately held the Longhorns to 20 points in the lane, while scoring 44 of its own.

This has been a liability at times. N.C. State allowed Alabama-Birmingham to score 44 in the second game of the season. It gave up 40 points to Seton Hall in the first game of the tournament. It allowed just 14 to Boise State on Wednesday.

If the Pack can more consistently limit paint touches, it has the chance to be effective. Texas had merely had an uncharacteristically strong 3-point performance, overshadowing N.C. State’s efficiency inside.

Foul issues take center stage

Foul trouble plagued the Wolfpack in its final game of the Maui Invitational, with N.C. State picking up 10 fouls in the first half.

Of those fouls, six took place in the first nine minutes of play. At the break, Williams, Quadir Copeland, Breed and Tre Holloman all had two fouls.

N.C. State continued to pick up foul calls in the second half. With 12 minutes remaining in the game, the Wolfpack’s senior quartet and freshman Musa Sagnia had at least three fouls each.

The Longhorns were in the bonus for the final 12 ½ minutes of the game.

Holloman fouled out with 2 ½ minutes left in the game, while Breed and Williams also fouled out late in the contest. This was the second game in a row that Williams and Holloman fouled out.

N.C. State has to figure out how to play cleaner defense, because it can’t afford to have some of its most senior players sitting on the bench.

Free throws

N.C. State was relatively efficient from the free throw line in Maui, but some of its misses came at inopportune times. The most notable? Williams’ two misses after a Texas technical foul.

Matas Vokietaitis was called for a foul after Lubin made a layup, giving the Wolfpack an and-1 opportunity. The Texas big man spiked the ball in frustration after the call, hitting an official in the face. He was assessed a technical foul. Williams, who had missed only two free throws the entire season, went 0 for 2 on his trip to the line. Lubin, however, made the and-1 to tie the game at 64.

McNeil also missed an and-1 opportunity early in the game, while Copeland went 1 of 2 on a trip to the line in the first half. Then, the senior missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with two minutes left.

The Wolfpack finished 20-28 (71.4%) on free throws, and in a five-point game, it could have used a few more.

N.C. State shot 34 of 45 (75.5%) from the free throw line in the first two games. It averages 77.1% this season.

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