Richard Howell had 13 points and grabbed all 10 of his rebounds in the second half, and C.J. Leslie had 16 points and 13 rebounds to lead No. 25 North Carolina State to a 69-65 victory over Connecticut in the second game of the Jimmy V Classic on Tuesday night at New York’s Madison Square Garden.
The Wolfpack (5-2), who had lost two of three, have dropped 19 spots in the AP poll over the last four weeks after being ranked No. 6 in the preseason Top 25.
Howell, a 6-foot-8, 257-pound senior, led North Carolina State’s second-half rush to the boards. The Wolfpack had 20 rebounds in the second half, 11 on the offensive end — and Howell grabbed seven of those.
Shabazz Napier led the Huskies (6-2) with 19 points and Ryan Boatright added 18.
In the opener, 15th-ranked Georgetown played some solid defense and beat Texas, 64-41.
“I don’t think our offense was good tonight. Too stagnant,” Hoyas coach John Thompson III said just three days after the Hoyas beat Tennessee, 37-36.
Otto Porter had 14 points and eight rebounds to lead the Hoyas (6-1).
Sheldon McClellan had 12 points to lead the Longhorns (5-3), who had their lowest point total under coach Rick Barnes, who took over for the 1998-99 season.
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