ATLANTA
N.C. State did all the grueling work of diving for loose balls, trapping and stealing, finishing tough shots at the rim, but the Wolfpack couldn't do the one thing that seemed easy after all their hard work.
They couldn't hit the open jump shot to finish an extraordinary rally from a 16-point deficit yesterday against No. 21 Georgia Tech, which won 73-71.
Scott Wood missed an open 3-point shot with N.C. State down 70-69 with 1:47 left. With the score 72-69, Javier Gonzalez missed a jumper with 33 seconds to play. He also tried an 18-footer with 6.5 seconds left with the Pack behind 73-71, and he missed that as well.
Finally, with 1 second left, Julius Mays put up a 3-point attempt for the win from the top of the key, and it missed, too. "The first one went halfway down, it looked in," Gonzalez said. "The next one, the last one I took, felt good, too."
Gonzalez let out a big sigh and leaned against a wall outside the N.C. State locker room. It was the fourth straight ACC loss for the Wolfpack (14-10, 2-7) since shocking Duke on Jan. 20. On a day when it started three freshmen, N.C. State was one open jump shot away from another signature win.
"Just real proud of our guys and how we fought back and hung in there on the road," said Coach Sidney Lowe of the Wolfpack.
Lowe said he thought Mays was fouled on the final shot, and Lowe voiced his displeasure after the buzzer. Then he stormed off the court.
Mays kept slapping his forearm after the buzzer to show everyone who paying attention he was fouled. Iman Shumpert, the nearest Georgia Tech player, said he didn't foul Mays. "You all saw it, you tell me what you thought," Lowe said. "I felt that he got fouled. They didn't call it and I was a little upset with that. Now we move on."
N.C. State should move on knowing it has a nice weapon in its bag of tricks. Lowe used a diamond press with 3:32 left and his team down 69-57. Georgia Tech had trouble getting the ball in, and had trouble getting it above the foul line.
The Yellow Jackets committed five turnovers on six possessions in a game that should have been over. People were walking out of the coliseum, but in just 85 seconds, State was down 70-69 with 2:07 to play.
"When they did get it in the guard couldn't see the cross-court pass," said N.C. State's Tracy Smith. "They couldn't see to the back end of the press to their 4 man, either."
N.C. State got 22 points from Smith and 14 points from senior Dennis Horner, who didn't start for the first time this season.
NCSU Min FG-A FT-A OR-T A PF Pts
Howell 21 1-6 0-0 3-9 1 5 2
Davis 28 0-1 4-6 2-2 1 2 4
TSmith 37 9-18 4-6 5-9 0 4 22
Gnzlz 35 5-10 1-2 2-3 7 1 13
Wood 34 4-13 0-0 0-2 2 3 12
Painter 3 0-1 2-2 0-0 0 3 2
Mays 23 1-8 0-0 0-5 2 3 2
Horner 19 4-11 6-6 2-4 0 3 14
Totals 200 24-68 17-22 21-41 13 24 71
Percentages: FG .353, FT .773; 3-Point Goals: 6-20, .300 (Wood 4-11, Gonzalez 2-4, Horner 0-2, Mays 0-3); Team Rebounds: 7; Blocked Shots: 4 (Davis 2, T.Smith, Wood); Turnovers: 22 (Gonzalez 7, T.Smith 4, Wood 3, Horner 2, Davis 2, Howell 2, Mays); Steals: 17 (T.Smith 6, Gonzalez 3, Mays 3, Horner 3, Howell 2); Technical Fouls: None.
GT Min FG-A FT-A OR-T A PF Pts
Favors 27 6-7 4-8 3-8 0 4 16
Lawal 29 4-11 0-4 5-11 1 0 8
Udofia 15 0-3 1-2 1-1 2 5 1
Shmprt 32 5-7 2-2 0-2 7 1 14
Bell 30 2-8 0-2 0-3 1 4 4
MMillr 4 0-1 0-0 0-1 1 1 0
Formn 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Oliver 20 2-4 0-0 0-3 2 1 6
Peacock 24 7-8 6-7 0-1 1 3 22
Rice Jr 17 0-1 2-4 0-2 0 1 2
Totals 200 26-50 15-29 10-34 15 20 73
Percentages: FG .520, FT .517; 3-Point Goals: 6-11, .545 (Peacock 2-2, Shumpert 2-3, Oliver 2-4, Udofia 0-1, M.Miller 0-1); Team Rebounds: 2; Blocked Shots: 8 (Lawal 4, Favors 3, Oliver); Turnovers: 22 (Bell 7, Lawal 4, Favors 3, Oliver 3, Udofia 3, Rice Jr., Peacock); Steals: 11 (Rice Jr. 2, Peacock 2, Bell 2, Oliver, Foreman, Udofia, Lawal, Shumpert); Technical Fouls: None.
N.C. State 32 39 -- 71
Georgia Tech 30 43 -- 73
A--8,760
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