Dennis Horner scored 25 points and Richard Howell's go-ahead layup with 8 seconds left barely beat the shot clock as North Carolina State defeated South Florida 58-57 in the first round of the NIT on Tuesday night.
The officials reviewed Howell's basket to see if he got off the shot before the shot clock expired and the call stood.
USF star Dominique Jones had a look for a last shot, but passed it to Chris Howard, who then passed it to Augustus Gilchrist, who put up an airball.
``I really never expected (Jones) to pass the ball,'' Bulls coach Stan Heath said. ``I'd rather go down with a missed shot then with something not going down the way (we drew it up). That play wasn't it, you can't say. There were many other (plays) that you'd like to get back.''
Jones said he passed the ball because a defender came to guard him.
``We wanted to keep it out of his hands,'' Wolfpack coach Sidney Lowe said. ``We got him jammed up and made him pass it. It was a good play on our part.''
North Carolina State advances to play UAB in the second round.
The Wolfpack (20-15) trailed for the first 25 minutes of the game as Horner had 14 of NC State's 22 points in the first.
South Florida, (20-13), in its first postseason appearance in more than eight years, had no answer for Horner, who was 10 for 16 from the floor.
``If I knew we were going to hold (Scott Wood) to no points and Tracey Smith to just 14, I would have told you we would have won that game,'' Heath said. ``That was a real hard way to lose the game and the last 30 seconds was not really how I pictured the game would go.
``So give credit to Horner for really stepping up like a senior should.''
Jones led the Bulls with 24 points, and Jarrid Famous added 10. Jones was disappointed with his performance from the free throw line, where he was 8 of 15, but usually makes 75 percent.
``I had good looks all game, but some just didn't go down,'' said the junior, who declined to comment if he was returning for his senior season. ``But if I had hit more of my free throws, we would have won this game, easily.''
