• First Look: Unedited photos from the game
RALEIGH — After an uneven first half, N.C. State rediscovered sophomore center Tracy Smith to re-establish a double-digit lead, then held on to defeat Virginia 72-67 on Saturday afternoon at the RBC Center.
Smith scored just four points in the first half as N.C. State led 24-6 in the 12th minute but gave away nearly all that advantage as Virginia pulled back within 33-29 at halftime.
At the beginning of the second half, N.C. State began dumping the ball down low to Smith, who had averaged 15 points over the previous three games.
He made a layup and 3-of-5 free throws in the first three minutes of the second half, and later passed back out from the post to Dennis Horner for a 3-pointer. Horner followed that basket with three free throws after getting fouled on another 3-point attempt, helping N.C. State extend its lead to 50-33 with 13:26 remaining.
As was the case in the first half, the Wolfpack frittered away nearly all of its big lead. Mamadi Diane made a 14-foot baseline jumper off an inbounds pass with 47.4 seconds remaining to cut N.C. State’s lead to 68-65.
Horner, who entered the game shooting 81.8 percent from the free throw line, missed two free throws with 16.7 seconds remaining that would have practically sealed the win. Horner also missed two key free throws in the closing seconds of N.C. State’s 91-87 overtime loss at Virginia Tech 13 days earlier.
Freshman guard Sylven Landesberg cut the deficit to 68-67 with two free throws with 8.7 seconds left. But in the final 7.2 seconds, senior guard Courtney Fells made four free throws and rebounded a missed foul shot by Landesberg to finish off the Cavaliers.
Smith scored nine of his 13 points in the second half. Freshman guard C.J. Williams scored 16, a career high.
It was the third win in the last four games for the Wolfpack (15-10, 5-7), which matched its win total from all of last season. Virginia (9-14, 3-9) had won consecutive games against Clemson and Virginia Tech but scored just four points in the first 10 minutes of the game.
Staff photo by Ethan Hyman
Comments
Nice to get a win...
Sun, 02/22/2009 - 14:44 — JPDOhiowhile struggling to hold it together. The Pack lost these kinds of games earlier this year. And I know it was just Virginia, but they have shown that they are capable of beating people this year.
Most encouraging is the play off the bench. Williams and Horner were the spark that won the game, although credit has to go to Fells, McCauley and Smith. Fells' defense, Smith's scoring and McCauley all-around scrapiness have been the key to State's resurgence.
Point guard play was spotty, but overall it has improved since the beginning of the year. I wish they could cut down on the turnovers, but if they continue to push up the court in a fast style of play, I think turnovers are going to happen. Still, way too many yesterday under any circumstances. Both Javi and Fernald lost focus too much, especially Javi early. Need to keep working on that.
hey footloose!
Sun, 02/22/2009 - 00:30 — gvillegatrI got around to reading more of your spew and gave my retort on the " 16 seedings: week 3" blog. go take a peeky!!
nc state dominated early,
Sat, 02/21/2009 - 15:16 — mad_maxnc state dominated early, especially on the defensive end. then dave laetto (sp?) starting yelling at the refs. virginia then got every single call and no-call you could imagine, making it impossible for nc state to defend or go down low. at halfime, lowe yelled at the refs. to open the second half, nc state is getting every little touch foul that can be called. therefore state is building a lead again. lets see what the refs do for the rest of the game...because that's all that really matters.