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Texas' P.J. Tucker goes up for a dunk against N.C. State. The Longhorns beat the Wolfpack 75-54 on Sunday in the NCAA Tournament.

“I think I got over my jitters last game. ... I felt more comfortable,” Abrams said.

Gibson already had 11 points when he made his third 3-pointer to put the Longhorns up 23-11 midway through the first half. Paulino had two 3s in the first five minutes, the second after Aldridge blocked a shot.

But after North Carolina State got within 32-30 on Cameron Bennerman’s layup and a timeout, Abrams made a 3-pointer and was fouled. He added the free throw and then made another basket before halftime to give Texas a 38-33 lead.

“He’d passed up two shots. During that timeout, I told him he better take the next shot he had,” Barnes said.

The second-seeded Longhorns play West Virginia (22-10) in Atlanta on Thursday in the Atlanta Regional.

Tucker, who is from Raleigh, N.C. but wasn’t offered a scholarship by the hometown Wolfpack, still had 17 points and 10 rebounds. And Aldridge, the league’s defensive player of the year, had 10 points on 2-of-9 shooting with eight rebounds.

Those numbers were similar to what Tucker and Aldridge had in the 60-52 victory over Penn, but they didn’t get much help in that game.

“With their inside prowess, it makes it more challenging to guard them,” Wolfpack coach Herb Sendek said. “What makes them so special is their balanced. Stopping that trio of guards is equally challenging.”

Texas is still four wins away from following its football and baseball teams as national champions; no school has ever held all three crowns at the same time. Mack Brown, the Longhorns’ football coach, attended Sunday.

Bennerman had 16 points to lead N.C. State, which was trying to advance to the round of 16 as No. 10 seed for the second year in a row. The Wolfpack were the only team that entered the tourney with a four-game losing streak, then beat California in the first round.

“I hope this year is not judged by our last four losses because we had a very good season,” said Ilian Evtimov, the fourth-year starter who had two points on 1-of-6 shooting. “We should be judged by our good body of work.”

Grant had 14 points and Simmons 12 for N.C. State, which made its fifth straight NCAA appearance and won at least 21 games for the third straight season.

The Wolfpack made seven of 27 shots (26 percent) in the second half after making 15-of-29 before halftime. And they were 3-for-22 on 3-pointers.

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