Tiras was tireless, but he wasn't enough.

Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns got a career-high 37 points from junior Tiras Wade and played No. 12 North Carolina State down to the wire Wednesday night in Raleigh, but the Wolfpack used free throws to seal a 78-72 victory before 10,036 fans at the RBC Center.

Wade's last basket, a 3-pointer with 10 seconds remaining, drew the visitors within 74-72 of State. But Cameron Bennerman made a pair of free throws with 7 seconds left and a late layup at the buzzer produced the final margin.

It was a gritty near-miss for coach Robert Lee's squad, which was playing its first game since a 45-point defeat at Kansas last Saturday and since learning that senior point guard Orien Greene was out of action with a broken leg.

In the end, UL was done in by 23 turnovers in the hostile arena.

The Cajuns also made just 11-of-21 free throws, while the Wolfpack hit 29-of-44 - hitting 8 more charities than UL attempted - in the single-digit decision.

"I'll tell you this," Lee said. "North Carolina State has some great players, but the best player on the court tonight was Tiras Wade. He put the team on his back and tried to carry us home. That's the type of player he is.

"We just have to have other players step up."

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Bruce Brown
bbrown@theadvertiser.com