Pack KOs Deacs

LONG-RANGE WOES: WAKE FOREST MISSES ALL 12 3-POINT ATTEMPTS

Pack KOs Deacs Wake Forest never recovers from State's early punch

RALEIGH

N.C. State reached out of the ACC basement and sent 23rd-ranked Wake Forest sprawling yesterday in front of 15,324 at the RBC Center.

Feeding off the bumbling way the Deacons began, the Wolfpack picked up confidence as the game progressed and pulled away to a 68-54 victory that snapped a five-game losing skid and all but eliminated Wake Forest from the ACC's regular-season race.

The Deacons (18-7, 8-5) turned the ball over 15 times and missed 20 of 27 shots to fall behind 28-18 at halftime, then saw a second-half rally falter when guards Farnold Degand and Javier Gonzalez hit three straight 3-pointers.

"We should have come out and just imposed our will -- which we didn't -- and I think they would have crumbled," said sophomore Al-Farouq Aminu of the Deacons. "But since they got confidence they said, ‘Hey, we might as well win one.' "

Freshman Scott Wood of the Wolfpack agreed that the start of the game was critical. The Wolfpack (15-13, 3-10) held the Deacons to 26-percent shooting in the first half, while piling up six steals and scoring eight points off offensive rebounds.

"My little analogy is from boxing," Wood said. "If you punch them and they start to look a little bit dizzy, then you're going to keep hitting them.

"I think that's one of the things we thrive on, and if they step back we're just going to keep putting it at them."

Tracy Smith led the Wolfpack with 14 points, Degand scored 13, Gonzalez had 11 points, six assists and four steals and senior Dennis Horner contributed 10 points and 12 rebounds. Aminu scored 15 to go with 14 rebounds, but also committed six turnovers.

With freshmen C.J. Harris and Ari Stewart continuing to struggle with their shooting touch, the Deacons missed all 12 3-point attempts. It was Wake Forest's first game without a 3-pointer since a 69-66 victory over Tulane on Feb. 3, 1992, and the first time since 1990 that N.C. State held an opponent without a 3-pointer.

State capitalized by clogging the lane and cutting down Ish Smith's ability to effectively penetrate for baskets or assists. Smith made six of 16 shots from the floor, and had as many turnovers (five) as assists.

"I think they did a great job of corralling and surrounding him," Coach Dino Gaudio of Wake Forest said. "They did a terrific job.

"I'm sure when we watch the tape and we look, when he was in transition you're going to see five white shirts in the lane. That's when we've got to kick out and make a little bit of a jump shot. Their transition defense was good. They kept us out of transition. But we've got to make shots when they do that."

For all their struggles, the Deacons were in position to pull out a comeback victory after slicing the lead to six at 42-36, 44-38 and 46-40. But they responded with an offensive foul by Aminu and three missed shots during their next four possessions.

State led 48-41 when Degand hit an open 3-pointer from left of the foul line. Gonzalez followed with a 3-pointer a possession later, and then Degand all but settled the issue by nailing another 3-pointer for a 57-43 lead with four minutes remaining.

"Those were big shots," Gonzalez said. "I think we took the air out of them with those three plays because they took quick shots and we came back and executed and hit some big threes."

Degand sensed a deflation on the part of the Deacons.

"I felt as if that was the dagger that put the game away basically for us," Degand said.

Gonzalez was shooting 39 percent from 3-point range and Degand was shooting 33 percent.

"Obviously we weren't scoring the basketball," Ish Smith said. "One thing we've done a great job of this year is when we're not scoring, somehow someway we've kept it in arm's length with our defense.

"And we kind of let our offense affect our defense down by 10 and never really put any game pressure on them. The closest we got was six. Guys who usually don't make shots for those guys were making shots.

"They were up six and eight and it's a whole lot easier to make those shots when you're up than when you're only up two or three points."

Both teams will have a week off, Wake Forest to assess the loss before next Saturday's home game against North Carolina and N.C. State to bask in its victory before playing at Miami.

dcollins@wsjournal.com.


727-7323

WFU Min FG-A FT-A OR-T A PF Pts

Aminu 34 6-12 3-4 8-14 0 5 15

Smith 35 6-16 0-3 2-4 5 2 12

Harris 24 0-9 0-0 0-4 0 3 0

McFrland 20 2-7 3-4 1-1 0 3 7

Williams 39 5-11 2-4 5-11 1 3 12

Clark 4 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Stewart 18 1-6 0-0 2-4 0 5 2

Weaver 9 1-1 0-0 1-3 0 0 2

Woods 17 2-3 0-0 4-5 0 0 4

Totals 200 23-66 8-15 27-50 6 21 54

Percentages: FG .348, FT .533; 3-Point Goals: 0-12, .000 (Aminu 0-1, Williams 0-1, Smith 0-2, Stewart 0-4, Harris 0-4); Team Rebounds: 4; Blocked Shots: 4 (Aminu 2, Woods, McFarland); Turnovers: 23 (McFarland 6, Aminu 6, Smith 5, Stewart 2, Harris, Woods, Williams, Clark); Steals: 7 (Aminu 2, Williams 2, Stewart, Smith, Clark); Technical Fouls: None.

NCSU Min FG-A FT-A OR-T A PF Pts

Gonzalez 29 3-8 4-5 0-0 6 2 11

Degand 23 4-8 3-4 0-2 2 3 13

Wood 23 1-3 1-2 0-0 1 1 4

TSmith 35 4-8 6-6 0-4 1 4 14

Horner 34 3-7 4-4 4-12 3 1 10

Howell 8 2-4 0-0 3-6 0 3 4

Painter 3 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Williams 24 4-8 2-3 2-3 1 1 12

Davis 10 0-3 0-0 1-2 0 0 0

Mays 11 0-2 0-0 0-1 0 1 0

Totals 200 21-52 20-24 11-31 14 16 68

Percentages: FG .404, FT .833; 3-Point Goals: 6-12, .500 (Williams 2-3, Degand 2-4, Wood 1-1, Gonzalez 1-3, Horner 0-1); Team Rebounds: 1; Blocked Shots: 6 (Horner 3, Williams 2, Wood); Turnovers: 15 (Williams 3, Degand 3, Wood 2, Gonzalez 2, T.Smith 2, Howell 2, Horner); Steals: 10 (Gonzalez 4, Horner 2, Degand 2, Wood, T.Smith); Technical Fouls: None.

Wake Forest 18 36 -- 54


N.C. State 28 40 -- 68

A--15,324