Wake Forest University
No Carolina St
Demon Deacons Fall To NC State, 76-56
1/16/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 16, 2000
By DAVID DROSCHAK
AP Sports Writer
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - Anthony Grundy scored a career-high 30 points and North Carolina State's stifling defense held Wake Forest without a basket for a 10 1/2-minute stretch en route to a 76-56 victory Sunday.
The Wolfpack (12-2, 3-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) matched its best start in a decade to improve to 11-0 at home in front of 19,670.
N.C. State came into the game shooting an ACC-worst 58.3 percent from the foul line, but sank 31 of 37. Senior point guard Justin Gainey was 10-for-10 from the line in the second half.
Wake Forest (11-5, 2-2) had no answer for Grundy in the first half as the 6-foot-2 guard was 7-for-9 from the field for 16 points as the Wolfpack built a 12-point halftime lead.
N.C. State increased its halftime cushion to as many as 14 before the Demon Deacons staged a second-half comeback behind reserve Craig Dawson, who scored seven points in less than two minutes as Wake Forest closed to 48-41 with 9:29 left.
The Demon Deacons never got closer as Grundy iced it with a 3-pointer with 2:04 left that gave N.C. State a 66-52 lead.
Grundy's previous best was 21 against Princeton in last season's finale.
Robert O'Kelley scored 15 points to lead Wake Forest, which was held to a season-low point total.
The Wolfpack jumped out to an 8-0 lead with Grundy getting six points and N.C. State never trailed, forcing the best ballhanding team in the ACC into 11 first-half turnovers. Wake Forest had averaged just 10 1/2 turnovers in its last four games.
The Demon Deacons did close to 21-20 with eight minutes left in the opening period before hitting the skids offensively, missing their last seven shots of the half and turning it over seven times to trail 34-22.
Josh Howard's follow basket 2 1/2 minutes into the second half broke Wake Forest's drought from the field.
