GREENSBORO — N.C. State couldn't buy a free throw. Elon couldn't miss a 3-pointer.
That combination left the Wolfpack in a 10-point hole twice in the first half of Wednesday's game at the Greensboro Coliseum. Just when N.C. State's dress rehearsal for the ACC tournament was about to turn into a disaster, Tracy Smith and Scott Wood made sure the Wolfpack left the Coliseum with a 87-72 win.
Smith scored 15 points, all but four in the second half, and Wood found the range for 13 points, 11 in the second half, to put away the determined Phoenix (6-8).
Elon dropped its fourth game of the season to an ACC opponent but led for the game's first 22 minutes thanks to a 5-of-7 start from the 3-point line and a 18-of-18 start from the free-throw line.
The Pack (10-4) started 7-of-16 from the free-throw line and ignored Smith, making his first start since Nov. 18, for long stretches of the first half while Elon built leads of 26-16 and 39-29. A mini-run at the end of the half by State cut the advantage to 41-37 at the break.
On the first possession of the second half, State punched the ball into Smith on the low block and he promptly delivered two points. In his second game back from knee surgery after missing 10, Smith played 27 minutes and hit 4-of-7 from the floor and added five rebounds.
Then Wood, as he did in the same building last season against Florida State in the ACC tournament, caught fire with three 3s in a 3-minutes span. The last of Wood's triples gave the Pack a 53-46 lead with 14:58 left.
Elon fought back behind senior guard Chris Long (game-high 20 points) and never-ending parade of made free throws. It wasn't until the 4:26 mark when Drew Spradlin missed that the Phoenix missed a free throw.
Elon cooled off from the 3, making just four of the final 12, while State finished 15-of-18 from the free-throw line.
N.C. State freshmen C.J. Leslie (19 points) and Ryan Harrow (17) held the offense afloat in the first half. The freshmen got more help in the second half for State's fourth straight win and 10th of the season to complete State's nonconference schedule.
The next 16 games are against the ACC. The 17th will be back in this building for the conference tournament.
Photo: N.C. State's Tracy Smith (23) shoots over Elon's Sebastian Koch (24) and Scott Grable (33). ETHAN HYMAN - ehyman@newsobserver.com
Comments
ready or not
Thu, 01/06/2011 - 01:30 — JPDOhioConference play is here. The Pack cannot afford the letdowns that have plagued them all year. ACC teams won't let them off the hook like the Elons and the Youngstown States did.
Three things I'd like to see, but won't happen:
On to Wake. Go Pack!
Williams---Not sure
Thu, 01/06/2011 - 08:43 — Shoreman67I like your "plan" and would agree 100% but with the exception of starting CJ Williams; he has never shown me that much, but then you see more games than I do. I LOVE Harrow; as you say he is small and I believe he will struggle at times defensively but he scores and my man Painter can play.
At this point of the season I thought State would have won one or two more games; I thought they would win the tournament down in Charleston and I thought they would beat Arizona at home. I'm just hoping now that the return of Smith will be the difference and his play will at least get them to 500 in the conference an then on to the "Big Dance".
Losing Smith
Thu, 01/06/2011 - 10:44 — JPDOhioI think that the Pack would have met your expectations if they hadn't lost Smith for those 10 games. There's a lot of frustration (I'll admit to mine), but we do have to remember that 3 of the 4 losses were away games against solid teams (although one was on a neutral court). And, they were missing their best player. That's quite a bit for a young team to overcome.
Hopefully, losing Tracy for those games pays off starting now. Sounds like he was having knee problems coming into the season and would have been playing with that handicap all year. Now, it is healthy and Painter has had a chance to develop. I am not sure that .500 in the conference gets them dancing. They are capable of doing better than that if they stay focused and play aggressively smart, not aggressively out of control.
ACC, here we come. Yay!
Tourney
Thu, 01/06/2011 - 13:07 — SurferAgree, .500 in conf. may not be enough. I am thinking 10-6 in conf. at a minimum.
Agree
Thu, 01/06/2011 - 18:38 — willncsu3410-6 will do it. We have no big wins and the conference is garbage.
amendment
Fri, 01/07/2011 - 13:07 — SurferI will add, to the 10-6 as a minimum, one win in the ACC Tournament. 10-6 is possible, but not much room for error with two games each against Dook, UNC and FSU. Should have no trouble against Wake tomorrow, so that should get them off to good start.
agreed
Fri, 01/07/2011 - 13:57 — JPDOhioThose wins need to include splits with Duke, UNC and FSU. A win at Maryland wouldn't hurt either. Of course, if they do all that, they are likely to end up better than 10-6. Hope springs eternal.
Given the lack of a quality win so far this year, State's tough ACC schedule provides an opportunity for them to get the quality wins they lack so far. I believe they have the talent to accomplish it. The question is whether the mindset is there.
Regarding Wake tomorrow, you are right, but I sure hope they aren't thinking that way today. Any team that is down at halftime to Elon and Youngstown State has no business taking anyone for granted.
Yeah, you guys may be right;
Fri, 01/07/2011 - 13:18 — Shoreman67Yeah, you guys may be right; may take a win or two in the tourney to lock up a bid..........