Wake Forest University
NC State
Demon Deacons Downed By NC State, 68-54
2/20/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 20, 2010
RALEIGH, N.C. - North Carolina State had five players score in double figures as the Wolfpack beat No. 23 Wake Forest 68-54 at the RBC Center on Saturday afternoon.
The win snapped NC State's string of seven straight ACC losses. Wake Forest has now lost back-to-back games for the first time since early December.
Al-Farouq Aminu led Wake Forest with his ACC-leading 17th double-double of the year as he finished with 15 points and 14 rebounds. Ishmael Smith and L.D. Williams each scored 12 points with Williams adding 11 rebounds.
Wake Forest managed just 34.8 percent shooting from the floor, making 23 of 66 field goal attempts. It was the second-worst shooting night of the season for the Deacons.
In addition, for the first time in 18 years, the Deacons failed to make a three-point field goal, going 0-for-12 from beyond the arc. The last time Wake was shutout out from three-point range was in a 69-66 home win over Tulane on Feb. 3, 1992. The Deacons missed all four 3-point shots that night against the Green Wave.
Freshmen Ari Stewart and C.J. Harris were each 0-for-4 from beyond the arc against NC State.
"We know those guys are shot makers for us and right now, they're not shooting the ball very well," said Wake Forest head coach Dino Gaudio. "We ran a couple of sets because those guys are our shooters and we just weren't able to knock them down."
Wake Forest never led in the game. NC State scored the first basket when Farnold Degand's layup attempt was ruled goaltending against Wake Forest. The Wolfpack made six of its first seven free throw attempts and did not have a field goal pass through the cylinder until Richard Howell's offensive put-back with 13:11 to play in the half put State up 10-5.
NC State opened up a nine-point lead at 18-9 with 6:26 to play in the half when Tracy Smith scooped in a layup from underneath. The Wolfpack led 28-18 at intermission.
The two teams combined to shoot less than 30 percent from the floor in the first half. Wake Forest was just seven of 27 from the floor while NC State was nine of 29. The 18 first half points by the Deacons marked the fewest points in a half in nearly three years. The missed shots created plenty of rebounds and the Deacons held a 28-15 rebounding advantage at the halfway point.
"I thought they came out and set a certain tone and I don't think we adjusted to the way the game was being played," said Gaudio. "Our offense put way too much pressure on our defense. We held them to 40 percent (shooting) for the game but our turnovers in the first half, of which we had 15, and we weren't scoring the ball so we continually put a lot of pressure on the defense. When you shoot 34 percent and go 0-for-12 from the three, it's tough to win."
NC State opened up a 13-point lead five minutes into the second half when Javier Gonzalez stole the ball from Chas McFarland and converted a layup at the other end to put the Pack ahead 39-26.
That's when Wake began its comeback. Aminu banked in a short jumper and Tony Woods dunked off an alley-oop feed from Smith to cut the deficit to nine at 39-30. State's C.J. Williams drilled a three-pointer from the top of the key to push State's lead back to 12.
Aminu scored on a finger-roll and L.D. Williams converted a short jumper after a Woods blocked shot to make it an eight-point game. Aminu's jump hook with 10:50 remaining pulled Wake to within six at 42-36.
McFarland knocked down a pair of free throws with 8:58 remaining that made it a six-point game at 46-40.
But over the next four minutes, the Deacons missed eight straight field goal attempts and turned the ball over twice. And despite three turnovers by the Wolfpack, NC State extended its lead to 54-43 with 4:51 remaining.
"I thought we were getting the right shots by the right guys," said Gaudio. "You can't turn the ball over 23 times and expect to win on the road."
The Wolfpack made 11 of its last 13 free throws in the final four minutes to hold off the Deacons.
Wake Forest is now 18-7 overall and 8-5 in the ACC. NC State improves to 15-13 overall and 3-10 in the ACC.
Wake Forest will have a week off before returning to action on Saturday, Feb. 27 when the Deacons host North Carolina at the Joel Coliseum.
"I like the time off," said Gaudio. "It's time that we can practice and worry about Wake Forest getting better. We can have five days where, the first three, we can talk about Wake Forest and get ourselves better, (address) some of our shortcomings."
Tracy Smith led NC State with 14 points while Degand finished with 13, C.J. Williams with 12 and Gonzales scored 11. Dennis Horner chipped in with 10 points and added a team-high 12 rebounds.
