WRAL Sports Fan

Final Score: (6) North Carolina State 94, Massachusetts 76

Bayamon, PR (Sports Network) - T.J. Warren totaled 21 points with four rebounds as the No. 6 North Carolina State Wolfpack blitzed the Massachusetts Minutemen, 94-76, in semifinal action at the Puerto Rico Tip-Off.

Richard Howell scored 19 points with nine boards and Scott Wood added 15 points for the Wolfpack (3-0), who will face Oklahoma State in Sunday's final.

Jesse Morgan picked up 15 points for the Minutemen (2-0), who had bested Providence on Thursday. Terrell Vinson and Chaz Williams poured in 13 points apiece, with Williams dishing out five assists against six turnovers.

Vinson's bucket with 11:24 left in the first half pulled the Minutemen within four at 20-16, but the Wolfpack roared back to take control of the game for good.

Lorenzo Brown and Warren hit consecutive shots to up the margin to eight, a try from Purvis a short time later put NC State up 27-17, and a three-point play from Warren with 4:53 left before halftime provided a cushy 35-24 margin.

Wood then hit a pair of three pointers in the final two-plus minutes to help NC State lead 48-32 at the break.

UMass was never able to shrink its deficit below double digits for the entire second half.

Tyler Lewis' three-point play pushed the Wolfpack advantage to 20, at 69-49, with 11:39 remaining, and NC State eventually pushed its lead to a game-high 25 points on two from the line by Howell with 3:22 left before coasting the rest of the way.

NC State was in control in the early stages, scoring 12 of the game's first 14 points thanks to five from Rodney Purvis, but UMass used a short burst to climb within 16-14 after a slam from Maxie Esho.

Game Notes

Massachusetts had won each of the previous three meetings, including a 68-56 decision in Amherst on Jan. 2, 2003 ... NC State shot 56.5 percent from the floor, compared to 40.3 for the Minutemen ... Brown wound up with 11 points and a game-high 10 assists ... Esho finished with 12 points in defeat.