ACC Now - N.C. State 66, BC 54 | newsobserver.com blogs

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RALEIGH -- Stitched, glued and smeared with Vaseline, N.C. State's Dennis Horner got the "Rocky" treatment on senior day for a cut above his right eye he picked up in the second half of the Wolfpack's regular-season finale.

Knocked down early in the second half, Horner returned to knock out Boston College in a 66-54 for the Wolfpack on Sunday afternoon at the RBC Center.

Horner's 11 points in a decisive 19-5 run lifted the Wolfpack (17-14) to its third win in four games and a memorable send-off for the senior forward.

"Any victory would have been great way to go out but to do it that way was all the better," said Horner, who finished with 14 points.

A hard foul by BC's Josh Southern sent Horner crashing to the floor at 18:13 in the second half. The corner of Horner's right eyebrow bore the brunt of the blow and he need five stitches to close it up.

"I heard [the thud] and saw the blood," Wolfpack coach Sidney Lowe said. "I didn't know if he was coming back or not. It definitely was a scary moment."

State junior Tracy Smith, who led the Wolfpack with 19 points, had no doubt about Horner's return.

"I knew he would be OK," Smith said. "He came back and hit some big shots for us."

Horner came back and led State's comeback. His three-point play at 6:50, to cut BC's lead to 47-46, started a one of the best segments State has put together this season.

C.J. Williams, who has come on at the end of the season, finished a fastbreak with a dunk over Southern, the same player that hammered Horner. Horner first 3 from the left wing and Smith's spinning post move and three-point play showed the Wolfpack's halfcourt set at its brightest.

By the time Horner drained a second 3, to put State up 62-52 at 2:14, he out-stretched his arms and motioned to the spirited crowd of 15,104 to celebrate.

"I didn't want to go out on a loss," Horner said.

With as many turnovers (10) as field goals in the first half, that seemed like a distinct possibility, despite State's 24-23 lead at the break. BC led 40-35 and 47-43 in the second half before State made its run.

The Pack started sluggish, to the point that Lowe made wholesale substitutions and dug deep on the bench for sophomore reserve Johnny Thomas, who had played only 16 minutes the entire season up until Sunday.

Thomas (six rebounds), Richard Howell (five assists) and Williams (14 points) gave the Pack a lift and a win for the third time in four games. At 5-11, State finished the ACC season tied for ninth but is the No. 11 seed in the ACC Tournament. State will face either Wake Forest or Clemson in the first round on Thursday.

The strong finish, and avoiding the No. 12 seed, was a goal after the Pack started 3-10 in the ACC.

"We talked about it and we didn't want to finish last," Smith said. "We've stepped it up."

To Lowe, the difference between the start of the season and the end is mental.

"They've started to figure out that this is how we have to play if we want give ourselves a chance," Lowe said.

Horner took advantage of his second chance on Sunday. He's hoping the team will do the same in Greensboro.

"When we're on, we can play with anybody," Horner said.

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all of u guys seem to be happy because the wulfpeckers won a game, how many have they lost? skid has to go , ok, ever notice how losers love company? go duke!!!!

Wow, 9 normal comments discussing the game. Nice.

That comment pretty much ensures the end of that streak of normalcy.

The crazies will be all over that like Kirstie Alley on chocolate cake.

The real bottom feeder has arrived

there u go , remember u are suppose to be ignoring me, hard to do AINT it? must have something to do with those bluedevil tights u wear, go DUKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Good for the Pack to get the win on Senior Night.

Hopefully the Pack will be able to win a couple ACC tourney games to bolster their chances at achieving an NIT bid.

This time, please don't let Clemson go up by 20 before you decide to start playing hard, Pack.

is somebody knocking Dennis to the floor early to wake him up.

Even he apparently admitted that the fall knocked his 3 point focus back in line. It must be true, because his last made 3 pointer before yesterday happened the day before the Berlin Wall came tumbling down.

Way to finish the regular season guys. Congrats to Dennis and Farnold for hanging tough and getting your degrees.

Gutsy performance by Dennis today. That was a nasty fall, but it seemed to bring him to life. He was the difference in crunch time with those couple of threes that put the game away.

Not that he was the only one who came through. CJ has found new life, Tracy was his usual steady self, Julius picked up the slack with Javi in foul trouble. Those were just a few.

All in all, a very good team win. Let's keep it going with a good run in the ACC Tourney.

I didn't catch a whole lot of the game, but it sounded like Horner played well. Farnold Degand gets to go out after a solid senior season and State is making a case for the NIT by winning 3 of their last 4. Not sure how the tournament is going to shape up, but this could be a group to keep an eye on.

to State. Bodes well for the tourney

What a way to go out for Dennis Horner! Couldn't be happier for him.

After what ACC refs have called over the years, how was there no flagrant foul called on the play that knocked Horner out of the game? Dispicable. It's the kid's senior night and you're gonna let him get mugged like that?

It was hard but clean.

Did you notice CJ accelerate to dunk before Southern could get to him. It looked like the same thing was about to happen when CJ turned on the afterburners.

I just can't help but remember the flagrant foul that was called on Courtney Fells last year in Blacksburg. Anyways, that dunk by CJ was sick because I totally didn't expect him to accelerate and rise up like that. What a momentum lift that gave us!

Now that was a bad call.