WRAL Sports Fan

North Carolina State University

N.C. State shocks No. 7 Wake Forest, 82-76

By Daniel Ellis

Feb 12, 2009

Raleigh, N.C. — N.C. State’s hot 3-point shooting and aggressive play inside helped the Wolfpack stop No. 7 Wake Forest 82-76 Wednesday night in Raleigh.

Junior Farnold Degand matched his career-high on the night, scoring 14 points while going 3-for-5 from 3-point land..

“We were a little bit more aggressive tonight,” Degand said. “We weren’t just going to sit there and hold the ball and let them attack us.”

As a team, State (13-9, 3-6 ACC) closed out the night shooting 7-of-18 from beyond the arc, while bringing an onslaught of dunks and aggressive speed play in their upset victory over the Demon Deacons (18-4, 5-4 ACC).

Wolfpack junior Brandon Costner led all scorers in the contest with 23 points, while sophomore Tracy Smith posted a double-double with 12 points. Ten of Smith’s 12 boards came off the offensive glass.

“Tracy [Smith] stepped up big for us, especially with Ben [McCauley] being a little sick,” coach Sidney Lowe said. “He just played a solid basketball game and did a great job for us.”

The Wolfpack almost blew its lead, though, as the Demon Deacons rallied to within two with just under a minute remaining.

“We worked on and talked about attacking,” Lowe said. “We weren’t looking up the floor and we became passive, so [Wake Forest] stayed with the pressure and caught us on that. It made it tough.”

However, State managed to hold on as the veteran players Ben McCauley and Costner connected on free throws. The win came three days after State blew a big lead at Virginia Tech and lost in overtime.

“In Blacksburg we didn’t knock down those free throws, but tonight we were focused, able to rebound and knocked down those free throws to come out with the win,” senior Courtney Fells said.

The red and white fans rushed the court as the game came to a close in the team’s biggest upset victory of the season. The game was filled with powerful dunks and fast-break drives on both ends of the court.

“Both teams are going to have their ups and downs having so many dunks, but the momentum really helps get the crowd pumped up, and that helps us a lot,” sophomore Javier Gonzalez said.

One of the biggest surprises of the night was Fells and the Pack defense limiting Wake guard Jeff Teague to 11 points, most of which came at the charity stripe.

“We changed our defense up and ran everything at them to keep them off balance,” Lowe said. “Courtney [Fells] did a great job on [Jeff] Teague. We tried to make it tough as we could.”

Early in the first half, though, State struggled to knock down field goals, allowing the Demon Deacons to jump out to an early 11-6 lead after Wake Forest freshman Al-Farouq Aminu slammed in a stolen inbounds pass from junior Dennis Horner.

Three-pointers were the story for the Wolfpack early on as Degand and Fells both were hot from beyond the arc, knocking down two shots apiece, as the Pack alternated hot streaks with the Demon Deacons.

Smith also offered a boost for the Pack, slamming home an inside pass from Degand.

On the subsequent possession, an errant pass resulted in an easy breakaway dunk attempt for freshman C.J. Williams. Wake guard Jeff Teague fouled Williams on the attempt, but the freshman would head to the line, knocking down both free throws.

The Demon Deacons struggled on their next couple of possessions, committing turnovers, struggling to grab defensive rebounds and failing to connect on simple shots.

“Our defense was great which translated into turnovers and easy baskets on the other side,” Gonzalez said.

Similar to the Virginia Tech game, Gonzalez continued to utilize a fast-paced style of play, driving to the basket only to dish the ball back for Fells to dunk with force and put the Pack up 40-33.

“Our guys came ready to play. They were upbeat.” Lowe said. “They saw where we were [after the Virginia Tech game] and kept positive.”

The Wolfpack utilized the strong inside presence of Smith and the hot shooting of Fells and Degand to take a 42-34 lead going into the locker room.

State started the second half strong as Costner cut to the basket for a dunk. Wake had an answer on the other end. Junior guard L.D. Williams connected with the rim on a pass from sophomore James Johnson prompting a quick timeout by coach Sidney Lowe.

The Pack continued to utilize a fast-break offense throughout the second half, with Degand notching a steal after knocking down another shot from 3-point land halfway through the second half.

With 14:32 left in the game, Costner soared up to the basket off of a steal. The Montclair, N.J., native slammed the ball with authority over a Wake defender while drawing the foul.

“Brandon [Costner] was poised down the stretch. He was getting open to relieve the pressure so we could get into something,” Lowe said.

The roaring RBC Center continued to erupt in cheers as Costner swished a 3-pointer from just outside the arc to put the Pack up by 20, their largest lead of the night.

Wake’s Aminu, who averaged 13.2 points per game coming into the night’s contest, fouled out with 11:58 remaining in the second half after notching a fast-break dunk in a contest filled with big plays.

A string of Pack turnovers allowed the Deacs to tally seven points in a matter of 27 seconds.

It wouldn’t be enough, though, as the Pack held on to claim its third ACC victory.