Tramon Mark hit a fadeaway jumper from just inside the 3-point line with 1.1 seconds left, and Texas survived a late rally to beat N.C. State 68-66 on Tuesday night in a First Four matchup of power-conference teams that limped into the NCAA tournament.
Mark scored 17 points to lead the Longhorns (19-14), who had lost five of six entering the NCAA tournament. Texas moved into the bracket as the No. 11 seed in the West region and will face sixth-seeded BYU on Thursday night in Portland, Oregon.
The Wolfpack (20-14) trailed 62-53 with 2:56 left, but scored 10 points in a span of 1:12. Paul McNeil Jr. hit two 3s before Mark beat the shot clock with a fadeaway.
Darrion Williams connected from deep to get N.C. State within one. The Wolfpack then forced a turnover by Dailyn Swain, and Tre Holloman made one of two free throws to tie it at 66-all.
Texas ran down most of the game clock before Mark connected from 19 feet, and N.C. State couldn't get a shot off before the buzzer.
Mark finished with 17 points, Matas Vokietaitis scored 15 and Swain added 13 for the Longhorns.
Williams led the Wolfpack with 21 points in his final game for N.C. State. Quadir Copeland scored 16 and McNeil finished with 11.
It was the second meeting this season between the schools. Texas beat N.C. State 102-97 on Nov. 26 to claim fifth place in the Maui Invitational. Tuesday night's game was more of a sloppy, defensive struggle.
The Longhorns built a 25-15 lead but then went scoreless over the final 4:06 of the first half. The Wolfpack finished the half on a 14-5 run to cut their deficit to 30-29 at halftime.
But the Wolfpack never managed to regain the lead, and Will Wade's first season in Raleigh came to a quick postseason end.
In the first game of the night, Howard University held off UMBC 86-83 for the HBCU's first victory in the NCAA tournament.
-- ABC11's Tamara Scott and The Associated Press contributed.
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