N.C. State 71, Miami 66

CORAL GABLES, Fla. -- It took until the final two games of February, but N.C. State put together its first ACC winning streak.



After a 71-66 comeback win at Miami on Saturday, Wolfpack forward Tracy Smith had only one regret.

"I wish we would have done it earlier," said Smith, who finished with 19 points and helped the Pack erase a nine-point deficit in the second half.

At 4-10, and with back-to-back wins over the Hurricanes and Wake Forest, the Wolfpack can't go back in time but it did take a step forward. State (16-13) might need to win both its final two regular-season games to avoid the No. 12 seed in the ACC Tournament, but its spot in the cellar would have been cemented without Saturday's road win.

Javier Gonzalez hit all six of his free throws in the final 42.7 seconds to cap his homecoming with 19 points and provide the kind of leadership Wolfpack coach Sidney Lowe has been looking for from his point guard.

When Smith twisted his knee late in the second half and missed three offensive possessions, it was Gonzalez who scored four points in his absence, including a crucial 3-pointer to break a 54-54 tie with 5:06 left.

After State's ACC losing streak hit seven games on Feb. 10, Lowe called out his junior point guard. Gonzalez has responded with 30 points, eight assists and just three turnovers in the past two wins.

"I don't know what clicked but he definitely did it," Lowe said. He ran the show, he was vocal. He really just did exactly what we wanted him to do."

With State clinging to a 64-63 lead after a defensive stop by forward Dennis Horner on Miami guard Durand Scott, Gonzalez knocked down two free throws to push State to a 66-63 advantage.

Miami's James Dews missed two shots on Miami's next two possessions, which were answered each time by a pair of free throws by Gonzalez, who was 9-of-12 for the game from the free-throw line.

"Those were huge," Smith said of Gonzalez's free throws. "He really took control of the team and ran everything."

When Garrius Adams hit his third 3-pointer of the second half and Scott followed with a reverse layup to put Miami up 48-39 with 12:18 left, it was starting to look like N.C. State's other ACC losses.

State went almost 5 minutes during the Miami run without scoring. But after a timeout, Lowe ran a play for Smith, who delivered in the post, and started seven-point burst by the Wolfpack.

The two teams went back and forth in the final 8 minutes but unlike earlier in the season in close losses to Clemson, Virginia and Georgia Tech, Smith, Gonzalez and Horner — who added eight points, five assists and four rebounds — found a way to grit out the win.

"We lost some tough ones early in the regular season, but we're not quitting," Gonzalez said. "We're trying to get to the tournament with momentum."

After 14 ACC games, the Pack has a winning streak to build on.