DAYTON, Ohio -- Given a second chance, T.J. Warren put on a show in the NCAA tournament. The hard-to-guard sophomore forward scored 16 of his 25 points in the second half on Tuesday night, showing why he was the ACCs player of the year, and North Carolina State led most of the way in a 74-59 victory over Xavier in the NCAA tournaments First Four. N.C. State (22-12) didnt have much time to celebrate. The 12th-seeded Wolfpack headed to Orlando, Fla., for a game on Thursday against St. Louis in the Midwest Regional. Warren had the most to do with it. He made up for a freshman tournament flop on the same floor a year earlier and prevented Xavier (21-14) from getting any traction in the second half. "Hes just a great player," coach Mark Gottfried said. "Its hard to keep him down for a whole 40 minutes." Centre Matt Stainbrook led Xavier with 19 points and nine rebounds despite an injured left knee. Leading scorer Semaj Christon was limited to 14 points, and Xavier made only 2 of 14 shots from beyond the arc. Xavier was playing in a familiar arena less than an hour from campus. Familiar, but not entirely friendly. Fans of the Dayton Flyers -- a long-time rival -- booed loudly as they took the court, making for a mixed welcome with a lot of Musketeer fans in the stands as well. Warren made it all a moot point, helping N.C. State take all the drama out of the game over the final 11 minutes. Ralston Turner added 17 points. The Wolfpack went six years between NCAA appearances before Gottfried got them there three years in a row. This was his youngest and least-experienced team: Only two players with tournament experience. They got one of the final at-large bids with a strong closing run, winning five of their last six games, including an upset of Syracuse in the ACC tournament. Warren was the key. And he really wanted a second chance at the NCAA tournament. As a freshman last year, he managed only four points as N.C. State lost to Temple 76-72 at the University of Dayton Arena in its opening game. Hes grown a lot in one year, leading the ACC with 24.8 points per game this season and hitting the 40-point mark twice. He got off to a bad start on Tuesday, missing his first two shots and picking up two fouls in the first 4 minutes, 14 seconds. Warren checked back into the game and hit a jumper for his first points at the 11:29 mark. Christon, who was Warrens roommate at Brewster Academy for one year, kept the Musketeers in it during the first half. He scored off two drives to the basket, starting an 8-1 run. Stainbrooks reverse layup trimmed it to 27-26 with 2:22 left. Jordan Vandenbergs three-point play gave N.C. State a 34-28 advantage at halftime. Dee Davis hit Xaviers first 3-pointer, and Christon scored on a fast-break lay-in that cut it to 39-37. Thats when Warren took over. He had a pair of pull-up jumpers, followed by a steal and a lay-up as N.C. State rebuilt the lead to 51-42. He had another pull-up jumper and a fast-break dunk that made it 57-47 with 7:56 to go. Xavier never got closer than seven points the rest of the way, fading down the stretch. The biggest question for Xavier was how Stainbrooks left knee would hold up. The Big Easts second-leading rebounder sprained a ligament, sat out the final regular season game and was extremely limited in two Big East conference games. He was back in form, but Xavier didnt have enough other scoring options to keep up. Bam Adebayo Jersey . -- Ryan Gropp scored in overtime as the Seattle Thunderbirds shut out the Spokane Chiefs 1-0 in Western Hockey League play Tuesday. Glen Rice Heat Jersey . The third baseman whipped the ball across the diamond to second baseman Aaron Hill. He quickly tossed it to shortstop Chris Owings, who flipped over his shoulder to left fielder Cody Ross. https://www.heatlockerroom.com/James-Johnson-City-Edition-Jersey/ . Beckham says "nothing has been confirmed yet, but its something I am very excited about." He adds that "Miami is something that really excites me because there is a great energy down there. Duncan Robinson Heat Jersey .C. -- The Carolina Hurricanes used a strong third period to extend their winning streak to three games. Derrick Jones Heat Jersey . Maximilian Arnold put Wolfsburg ahead in the eighth minute, when the stationary Fallou Diagne allowed him to guide Patrick Ochs cross beyond the helpless Freiburg goalkeeper, and Ivica Olic doubled the lead three minutes later after Luiz Gustavo did well to set him up.MONTREAL — Question marks still surround Canadas goaltending four games into its world junior hockey championship.The latest Canadian goalie to don the pads, Eric Comrie, made 25 saves in Canadas 5-3 victory over the United States on Wednesday. The win gave Canada top spot in its group, with the Americans finishing second.Canadas next game will be against Denmark in the quarter-finals on Friday in Toronto.After alternating between Comrie and Zach Fucale in Canadas four preliminary games — all victories — Canadian coach Benoit Groulx is still not prepared to name his clear-cut No. 1 goaltender.Were not there yet to be honest, said Groulx. This was just one game. Now were going to do what weve done before. The only plan we had with our goalkeeper at the very beginning was to alternate them in the first two games. We didnt have a plan after that.We wanted to play it by ear. Were going to do the same going forward.Groulxs decision to name a starter is by no means an easy one to make.The Canadians came into Wednesdays contest having conceded just one goal in three games. Comrie made 17 saves to earn the shutout in Canadas 4-0 defeat of Germany. Fucale, meanwhile, stopped 12 shots for the shutout against Slovakia, and added another 27 saves in a 4-1 victory over Finland.Who will start in the crease for Canada when the team takes on the Danes on Friday is still a mystery.Were just going to take it day-by-day and have fun, said Comrie. Whoever is in, Im confident, and I know Zach is very confident, and were just going to go for a gold medal together.Added alternate captain Sam Reinhart: Whether its him (Comrie) or Fucale in net, its amazing the calming effect they have on the rest of the lineup, and how comfortable we are with the two of them.Against the United States, Comrie gave up two of his three goals in the games last three minutes. Comries perfect save percentage dropped to .933, and his goals-against-average rose to 1.50 after two starts.The Winnipeg Jets prospect, however, was solid to begin the game. Comrie made back-to-back saves in the games first 30 seconds — on American first-liners Tyler Motte and then Jacck Eichel - to set the tone for the period.dddddddddddd. He made 13 saves after the first period.He was good right from the first, said Reinhart of 19-year-old Comrie. He was able to calm us down and thats the best thing you can ask for from your goalie.Comrie conceded his first goal of the tournament to Anthony DeAngelo at 13:12 of the second. With the Americans on the power play, winger Sonny Milano made a cross-crease pass to DeAngelo, who was faced with a wide-open net. Comrie couldnt make it from post-to-post quickly enough.The DeAngelo goal looked like the only shot that would beat Comrie on the evening. With the Canadians ahead 3-1 late in the third period, all signs pointed to Comrie as being Canadas starting goaltender for the rest of this tournament.But a giveaway by defencemen Joe Hicketts and Dillon Heatherington with less than three minutes remaining in the game gave Dylan Larkin an easy tap-in.After an empty-netter by Reinhart put Canada up 4-2, Comrie whiffed on a weak shot from Larkin 13 seconds later, giving the Americans a lifeline.Thats a goal I have to stop, said Comrie. I have nothing else to say about that.Comrie, who plays with the Tri-City Americans of the Western Hockey League, thanked defenceman Darnell Nurse for a blocked shot late in the game that could have been the equalizer. With the American net empty and an extra attacker on the ice, Nurse dropped to the ice and smothered an American slapshot.Our team has been unbelievable at that all tournament long, said Comrie. Our team loves blocking shots. It really goes to show how much it helps at the end of the game when someone steps up like that and does that.Despite Larkins two goals late in the game, Groulx was pleased with Comries overall performance.I thought he was good, said Groulx. He had a solid game. Im very happy with him. I thought he was ready for this game. Hes a competitor.Notes: Canada has now won its last six New Years Eve games versus the Americans. … The Canadians have outscored their opponents 21-4 through four preliminary games. … The United States will take on Russia in their quarter-final on Friday. ' ' '