NCAA Tournament 2014, first round: T.J. Warren leads N.C. State over Xavier

The first game of the night saw Albany pull one out in the final minute against Mount St. Mary’s. The Great Danes opened the game on a 21-2 run, but were then on the wrong side of a 21-2 run themselves. Albany took a four-point lead into halftime and held on late despite Mount St. Mary’s hitting 12 of their 37 three-point attempts.

This three-point miss in the final minute would prove to be the nail in the coffin for the Mountaineers. Many still aren’t sure how this ball rimmed out.

Despite being the final team to make the field of 68, North Carolina State looked awfully good against XU. They will now have a quick turnaround and face No. 5 seed Saint Louis in the second round on Thursday night.

The Great Danes opened the game on a 21-2 run, but somehow found themselves only up by four points at halftime following a barrage of three pointers from Mount St. Mary’s. The Mountaineers would attempt 37 threes in total and hit 12 of them.

Warren, just as he has done to opposing defenses all season long, lit up the Musketeers for 25 points. He picked up two fouls in the first five minutes, but coach Mark Gottfried elected to keep him on the floor. It would end up paying dividends for the Wolfpack in a big way as they took a six-point lead into halftime and outscored the Musketeers by nine in the second half.

These two plays late in the second half kind of summed up the night for Chris Mack’s boys.

Matt Stainbrook, one of Xavier’s two Stainbrook bros, is having a dominant night for the Musketeers. This was not a dominant moment, though:

Got the bucket, though, so no harm done. And his nickname is “The Stain Train,” so DEFINITELY no harm done.