Raleigh, N.C. ? Andrew Brackman provided the spark that No. 12 North Carolina State so desperately needed Wednesday night. As a result, the 12th-ranked Wolfpack stayed unbeaten … barely.

The freshman scored a career-high 20 points and made several key plays during a decisive second-half run to lift N.C. State past Louisiana-Lafayette, 78-72.

Julius Hodge added 16 points for the Wolfpack (8-0), who overcame a horrendous first half and held on to stay unbeaten.

Tiras Wade scored a career-high 37 points — an RBC Center record — and hit five three-pointers to lead the Ragin’ Cajuns (3-5), who hung around until the final seconds before falling short. Louisiana-Lafayette lost to No. 2 Kansas University, 96-51, on Saturday at Allen Fieldhouse.

The Wolfpack are off to their best start since going 9-0 in 1981-82, but they had to grind out a tough win against a determined opponent in a rematch of a first-round NCAA Tournament game from last season. The Wolfpack won that game, 61-52.

N.C. State shot 15-for-22 in the second half and went 29-for-44 from the free-throw line for the game, but was outrebounded 42-25. It also had to overcome foul trouble to starter Tony Bethel and a hip flexor that limited Jordan Collins after halftime.

“We had a dose of adversity,” N.C. State coach Herb Sendek said. “With all that being said, we found a way to get a ‘W’.”

The lanky 6-foot-10 Brackman was a big reason why. After taking just one shot in the first half, Brackman finished 6-for-6 from the field with four rebounds and three blocked shots in 23 minutes.

No. 3 Georgia Tech 72, James Madison 47

Atlanta — Isma’il Muhammad scored 14 points, and Jarrett Jack added 13 to lead Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets (7-0) struggled from the field. Leading scorer B.J. Elder, averaging 18.7 points, managed only four on 1-of-7 shooting in 25 minutes, while Will Bynum had 10 on 2-of-9 shooting in 28 minutes.

Wake Forest coach Skip Prosser, right, talks with Chris Paul (3) during the second half of Wake Forest's 85-67 victory over Elon. Paul had 14 points, a career-high 11 assists and six steals Wednesday in Winston-Salem, N.C.

No. 6 Wake Forest 85,

Elon 67

Winston-Salem, N.C. — Chris Paul had 14 points and a career-high 11 assists, and Kyle Visser added 13 points for the Demon Deacons (8-1). Chris Chalko had 16 points for Elon (2-7), which has lost seven of eight. Paul, a sophomore, also tied a career-high with six steals. The Phoenix announced earlier Wednesday that leading scorer Jackson Atoyebi would miss the rest of the season because of a shoulder injury suffered last month.