The holiday cheer was bubbling over in the Wake Forest locker room after last night's 67-59 victory over N.C. State at Joel Coliseum, so much so that Coach Dino Gaudio of the Deacons couldn't resist a good-natured jab at his troops.
"I go in and tell the kids, and I'm going to be a little flippant with them," Gaudio said. "I said, `You know what? That win was like our team. We won and we've got an ugly team.'
"And my guy that never says a peep, Al-Farouq Aminu, said ‘Our team's a reflection of the coach.' "
The Deacons won ugly to improve to 8-2 overall, mainly because the floor game of point guard Ish Smith was a thing of beauty. His performance will be remembered for his two blocked shots -- including one on 6-9 Dennis Horner under the basket -- but it was the way that he controlled the flow of the game and got into the lane at will that made the difference in Wake Forest opening ACC play with a 1-0 record and N.C. State (8-2) heading back to Raleigh 0-1.
And the visiting coach, a pretty fair point guard himself during his playing days with N.C. State, knew it.
"He's so good -- he's just good," Coach Sidney Lowe of the Wolfpack said. "He's clever with the basketball.
"The game plan was to try to keep him out of the lane, try to squeeze. But sometimes you run up against a guy that's just better than what your guys are trying to do. He's as good as anybody -- and I think anybody in the country, really -- at getting in the lane and creating problems like that."
Aminu overcame three first-half fouls and seven turnovers to lead the Deacons with 18 points and 13 rebounds, with his two more-memorable baskets coming on fast-break dunks off lobs from Smith.
One of the breaks was triggered when Smith, posted underneath the basket, leaped high to stuff Horner for just his second block of the season and the sixth of his career. The basket extended Wake Forest's lead to 48-38 with 12 minutes remaining.
"He's a great passer, a great point guard, and really has great vision," Aminu said of Smith. "I just love playing with him."
Smith made five of 13 shots from the floor, but still finished with 10 points, four rebounds and seven assists while committing two turnovers in 38 minutes.
"I'm not one to brag. I just try to go out there and when I get a chance to make some plays with my athletic ability, I can," Smith said.
"I had somebody text me after the Gonzaga game. I got back-doored and I blocked (Demetri) Goodson's shot. Somebody texted me and said, ‘Wow I didn't know you could jump that high.'
"I didn't know either. It's just when the ball goes up I try to go get it."
The Deacons led the final 33 minutes, building a 35-26 halftime margin that they stretched to 14 three times in the second half. But point guard Javier Gonzalez scored 15 of his team-high 18 points in the final 9½ minutes to keep the game close.
N.C. State pared the lead to 64-57 on a free throw by Scott Wood with two minutes remaining, but could get no closer against a Wake Forest defense that held the Wolfpack to 21 field goals on 62 attempts (34 percent) and six 3-pointers on 21 attempts (29 percent).
The Deacons, meanwhile, did themselves no favors by missing nine of 23 free throws -- including two front ends of one-and-ones, but they did outrebound the Wolfpack 48-40 and outscored them 40-24 on points scored in the lane.
Leading scorer Tracy Smith of the Wolfpack contributed 11 points and 10 rebounds before fouling out with 5:28 on a foul out near midcourt.
"I just think we did a great job grinding it out," Ish Smith said.
"It's the first ACC game. It's not always going to be pretty, but it's a win."
dcollins@wsjournal.com.
727-7323
N.C. STATE
M FG-A FT-A RO-T A PF PTS
Williams 21 2-6 0-0 1-4 3 1 4
TSmith 23 5-12 1-2 5-10 0 5 11
Horner 35 2-8 3-4 2-4 0 3 8
Gonzalez 31 6-13 3-5 0-8 3 3 18
Wood 32 4-8 2-3 0-0 0 4 11
Howell 6 0-4 0-0 2-3 0 1 0
Painter 5 0-0 0-0 1-1 0 4 0
Degand 13 0-4 0-0 3-4 1 2 0
Vandnbrg 11 0-3 0-0 0-2 0 1 0
Davis 13 1-1 2-5 2-2 1 0 4
Mays 10 1-3 0-0 0-1 0 1 3
Totals 200 21-62 11-19 17-40 8 25 59
Percentages: FG .339, FT .579. 3-Point Goals: 6-21, .286 (Gonzalez 3-7, Mays 1-2, Horner 1-3, Wood 1-4, Howell 0-1, Degand 0-2, Williams 0-2). Team Rebounds: 1. Blocked Shots: 8 (Williams 2, Vandenberg 2, Davis, Wood, Horner, Degand). Turnovers: 16 (Gonzalez 4, Williams 2, Painter 2, Howell 2, Davis 2, Wood, T.Smith, Degand, Horner). Steals: 7 (Horner 4, T.Smith, Wood, Gonzalez). Technical Fouls: None.
WAKE FOREST
M FG-A FT-A RO-T A PF PTS
Aminu 31 7-11 3-5 6-13 3 3 18
Williams 27 1-3 3-4 0-8 2 4 5
McFrlnd 20 3-8 3-8 3-5 0 2 9
Smith 38 5-13 0-1 1-4 7 0 10
Harris 28 3-10 3-4 2-4 0 2 10
Clark 10 2-3 0-0 0-0 0 1 4
Stewart 18 2-6 0-0 2-4 0 2 5
Weaver 18 2-4 0-0 1-4 0 3 4
Woods 10 1-3 0-1 2-5 0 0 2
Totals 200 26-61 12-23 18-48 12 17 67
Percentages: FG .426, FT .522. 3-Point Goals: 3-11, .273 (Aminu 1-1, Stewart 1-3, Harris 1-4, Smith 0-1, McFarland 0-1, Clark 0-1). Team Rebounds: 1. Blocked Shots: 8 (Weaver 4, Smith 2, Aminu, McFarland). Turnovers: 16 (Aminu 7, Woods 2, Smith 2, Harris, McFarland, Williams). Steals: 10 (Williams 4, Aminu 2, Smith 2, Harris, Clark). Technical Fouls: None.
N.C. State 26 33 -- 59
Wake Forest 35 32 -- 67
A--14,255.
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