WINSTON-SALEM — A slow start and lax defense cost N.C. State in its last ACC game. Neither was a problem for the Wolfpack in a 76-40 blowout of Wake Forest on Saturday.
With 20 points and six assists from Lorenzo Brown, N.C. State won its first ACC road game of the season and rebounded from Wednesday's loss to Georgia Tech.
Wake Forest made just two 3-pointers, in 20 attempts, and neither of its top scorers, Travis McKie or C.J. Harris, could get untracked. McKie was ejected with 11:37 left in the game with only two points, 16 below his season average.
C.J. Williams (15 points) and a double-double from Rich Howell (12 points, 12 rebounds) helped the Pack win its fourth straight game against the Demon Deacons and the third straight by at least 20 points. It's the first time State has beaten an ACC opponent three straight times by at least 20 points since 1955 (four straight over Clemson in their first four ACC meetings).
Georgia Tech scored 82 points in Wednesday's upset in Raleigh and shot 60 percent from 3-point range. Wolfpack coach Mark Gottfried challenged his team's perimeter defense, which ranks as one of the worst in the country at guarding the 3-point line, to be better against Wake.
McKie and Harris, who rank second and third respectively in the ACC in scoring, had just six points and two field goals between in the first half as Wake fell behind 33-17.
Brown was aggressive in getting State started quickly. He closed the half with a 3-pointer at 1:42 and then made a reverse layup with 35.3 seconds left to push State's lead to 33-17.
The Deacs never got going in the second half. Brown pushed State's margin to 49-23 at the 14:03 mark on a pullup jumper.
McKie threw an elbow in a scrum for a rebound at 11:37 and was ejected. Wake trailed 52-23 at the time and McKie's day was over with one field goal and just five shot attempts.
Harris, who finished with 10 points, was the only Wake player in double figures.
Photo: N.C. State's Lorenzo Brown slams in two during the second half of Wolfpack's 76-40 victory over Wake Forest. ETHAN HYMAN - ehyman@newsobserver.com
Comments
COW-COLLEGE!
Sat, 01/14/2012 - 18:12 — bluecat69bluecat69THE COW COLLEGE IS NOW THE 2ND BEST TEAM IN THE ACC.GO DUKE
Great win wolfies!!
Sat, 01/14/2012 - 17:42 — duke_blueGreat win wolfies!!
Good win
Sat, 01/14/2012 - 17:17 — mad_maxAfter the way GT shot lights out and the refs picked on us the other night, it was nice to have the opponent not show up today. Thanks for an easy win, Wake.
I thought the defense was definitely better today, but certainly not perfect. Don't let Wake's terrible shooting fool you...they still had some open looks. Difference was, GT was making everything they heaved up the other night (even bad shots), while Wake couldn't even make their open looks today. Still though, State's perimeter defense and overall defense was better today...don't want to take that away from them.
Also, I was more than pleased with the fact that we actually had the calls go our way today. The ejection from McKie's elbow and the flagrant foul called really surprised me. We hardly ever get those kinds of calls!
Hopefully the Pack can keep it up and start piling up some conference wins. They have a real opportunity this year to move up in the league.
Worst to best
Sat, 01/14/2012 - 16:16 — JPDOhioThe Pack followed up its worse game of the year with what may have been its best, start to finish. All without anything from Calvin. Other than a tough stretch of shooting from the floor in the first half, not much to complain about.
As bad as Wake was on offense, I think State has to get some credit for their best defensive effort of the year so far. I can't help but think that pasting by Ga Tech was just what they needed. They needed a reminder that they need to bring it every game to be successful. Hopefully, the lesson was learned and they won't need another.
I was reading
Sat, 01/14/2012 - 17:14 — Shoreman67your in-game post and thinking the same thing; we should have been up by much more than 16. But Wow! What a defensive effort! Where would we be if we could have played this way since day 1. Quite an effort in response to MG's pleading (coaching). And, we kept the turnovers down; agree, probably our best performance this season.
Looks like Wake is not the only team getting an old fashion butt kicking; if ya' know who I mean. Life is good today---life is good.
McKie threw the elbow after
Sat, 01/14/2012 - 16:01 — ProwlingWoofieMcKie threw the elbow after getting stripped of the ball going up for a shot, not on a rebound scrum. Frustrating day for him and the Deacs. Pack played very good perimeter defense and never let Wake get an open look.
perimeter defense?
Sat, 01/14/2012 - 17:07 — SurferI guess that was in the second half. I only watched the first half. State looked terrible, Wake looked worse, the Heels are looking the worst.
OK, Wake was 2 for 20 from
Sat, 01/14/2012 - 19:01 — ProwlingWoofieOK, Wake was 2 for 20 from the arc, but State's defense had nothing to do with that. How was Tallahassee ???
tallahassee?
Sun, 01/15/2012 - 10:17 — SurferUm, educational for sure. Always looking for the positive ;)
Pretty much
Sat, 01/14/2012 - 17:22 — mad_maxPeople get too carried away with the stats I think. Sometimes a team will make a bunch of difficult/contested/lucky shots (Georgia Tech), and sometimes a team will struggle to make open looks (Wake Forest). You can't just look at something like 3 pt shooting percentage and determine whether the opposing team played better perimeter D or not.
That being said, State's D was better today. 41 points better than the GT game? Probably not, but there did appear to be a better defensive effort today.
Stats
Sun, 01/15/2012 - 11:13 — JPDOhioWhile I don't disagree with your general point, max, I think State's focus on defending the perimeter had everything to do with Wake's troubles on Saturday. Against GT, they were soft at the beginning and allowed Tech to gain confidence. Once GT's shooters got on a roll, they knew that everything they threw up had a chance, even when someone finally got a hand in their face. They were lucky a lot, but I am a firm believer that you make your own luck.
Against Wake, State did such a good job defending that Wake's shooters never had a chance to get on a roll. That got them so frustrated that they stuggled, even when they got open looks. They started to doubt themselves and were looking over their shoulders. You could see it in their body language, their lack of energy and the lazy passes that were easy interceptions and points off turnovers for State. It all started with State's defensive intensity to start the game.
Interesting
Mon, 01/16/2012 - 20:07 — SurferThe first half that I saw (all I watched) State looked pretty poor, relaxed on defense, giving too much space on th perimeter. Wake's offense was just horrid.
First half
Tue, 01/17/2012 - 00:39 — JPDOhioState was bad on offense, but not on defense. They did a nice job all game on Wake's two scorers. Or maybe the Pack was just so bad against Ga Tech that anything looked good to me.
Recolllection
Tue, 01/17/2012 - 13:33 — SurferCould be, but what I recall seeing, the State defenders were mostly inside the 3 point arc. Wake could have easily had many open looks. However, on second thought, begging Wake to take those shots was perhaps benificial for State?