Wake Forest University
No Carolina St
No. 23 Demon Deacons Devour Wolfpack, 76-58
3/4/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 4, 2001
By JOHN MARSHALL
Associated Press Writer
RALEIGH, N.C. - Faced with seven days off after a last-second loss to No. 2 Duke, Wake Forest coach Dave Odom was concerned about his team's concentration level. He shouldn't have been.
Darius Songaila scored 21 points and Robert O'Kelley had 15, and No. 23 Wake Forest used solid defense to beat struggling North Carolina State 76-58 Sunday.
Wake Forest (19-9), which lost 82-80 to Duke on Chris Duhon's buzzer-beater on Feb. 24, improved to 8-8 in the Atlantic Coast Conference to finish .500 in the league for the first time in four years.
"Early in the week we were showing the effects of not having a game and lack of concentration, but I felt a lot better by the end of yesterday's practice," Odom said. "To come out today and finish 8-8 in conference is a tremendous accomplishment. It's something none of these players have ever experienced."
Wake Forest held N.C. State to 40 percent shooting, raising their record to 16-2 when the opposition shoots poorly.
N.C. State (13-15, 5-11), which has lost four of five, dropped to 0-11 when shooting 40 percent or less. Eight of those losses have come in the ACC, including four of the last five.
Wake Forest used an 11-2 run to open a 45-38 lead early in the second half, but the Wolfpack cut it to 48-45 on a long 3-pointer by Archie Miller.
O'Kelley responded with a 3-pointer 12 seconds later, starting an 11-4 run that put the Demon Deacons up 59-49 with 6:54 left. O'Kelley finished the run with two free throws.
State wasn't able to mount a run after that because it was unable to make free throws.
N.C. State did not make consecutive free throws in six second-half chances and missed the front end of 1-and-1s twice in the half. The Wolfpack made 14 of 30 free throws overall, including going 8-for-17 in the second half.
"Obviously, a horrendous night at the free throw line," N.C. State coach Herb Sendek said. "It's overwhelming to shoot that poorly from the free-throw line."
Wake Forest made seven of eight free throws over the final six minutes and were 18-of-22 overall. The Demon Deacons were 16-of-29 from the field in the second half and shot 50 percent overall.
Cliff Crawford, who led N.C. State with 18 points and six rebounds, tried to keep the Wolfpack close as the game started slipping away in the second half, but got little help.
Crawford had a pullup jumper to pull State within 41-38, but the Wolfpack had turnovers on their next two possessions to fall behind by seven. His three-point play with 13:37 left helped State cut the lead back down to three, but the Wolfpack scored five points over the next six minutes.
"Cliff's been playing his best basketball and he keeps getting better and better," Sendek said. "He might have been the one guy for us today who had a good afternoon."
Songaila, who has struggled with foul trouble most of the season, had two in the first 5:32. But unlike previous games, Odom decided to stick with him this time.
Songaila responded by scoring 14 points in the second half and grabbing seven rebounds. He hit a turnaround jumper with 4:51 left after the Wolfpack cut the lead to 62-54, and knocked down a 3-pointer as the shot clock ran out to put Wake Forest up 71-54 with 2:46 left.
"I quietly decided this week, if he got two fouls early I was going to play him," Odom said. "I've gone the other way and we've lost a couple of games with him sitting in the second half. I decided to sit him for just a few minutes and put him back in, and I think that gave him a little confidence."
Wake Forest won its third straight road game in the ACC, marking the first time that has happened since 1996-97.
