Wood, Leslie push Pack past Cavaliers 75-56

North Carolina State University

Wood, Leslie push Pack past Cavaliers 75-56

Mar 15, 2013

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Final: NC State 75, Virginia 56: Led by Scott Wood's 23 points and C.J. Leslie's double-double, the North Carolina State Wolfpack downed Virginia 75-56 Friday in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament. The fifth-seeded Wolfpack will meet top-seeded Miami Saturday at 1 p.m.

3:42 second half: NC State 64, Virginia 48: CJ Leslie has come alive late in the second half with 17 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks. NC State has the game in hand and should finish out the game easily ahead of Virginia.

11:00 second half: NC State 51, Virginia 38: Led by Scott Wood's 18 points the Wolfpack are keeping a steady lead over Virginia. TJ Warren is following right behind with 16 points.

17:29 second half: NC State 41, Virginia 25: Scott Wood came out of the half and hit three three-pointers to break Rodney Monroe's all-time career record of 322 three-pointers at NC State. Wood now has 323 and the Wolfpack have a 16 point lead over Virginia.

Halftime: Scott Wood got hot from behind the three point line and NC State took a double-digit lead near the end of the first half. At the break the Wolfpack lead Virginia 30-21.

7:17 first half: NC State 17, Virginia 12: The Wolfpack are staying ahead of Virginia through the first half. But in the last few possessions the team has not been able to convert points as they are trying to push the pace too much.

11:51 first half: NC State 12, Virginia 8: NC State got the start they needed from CJ Leslie and the rest of the team followed suit. TJ Warren and Lorenzo Brown are on the board as the Pack lead Virginia 12-8 with 11:51 to go in the game.

14:31 first half: NC State 7, Virginia 4: CJ Leslie leads the Wolfpack with five points early.

The fourth-seeded Virginia Cavaliers will get their postseason underway on Friday, taking on the NC State Wolfpack in quarterfinal action of the ACC Tournament at the Greensboro Coliseum.

Tony Bennett's Cavaliers earned the fourth and final first-round bye with their usual stingy defensive play. Virginia (21-10) actually finished in a tie with NC State for fourth in the league standings at 11-7, but won the head-to- head battle in usual fashion (58-55). Virginia doesn't have a great track record in this event, with a 31-58 overall record. The Cavaliers have just one tournament title on their resume and that came way back in 1976.

The Wolfpack will get another crack at the Cavs after making light work of Virginia Tech in the first round on Thursday, 80-63. With the win, Mark Gottfried's squad moved to 23-9 overall, helping improve its already NCAA Tournament worthy resume. NC State has won 10 ACC Tournament titles overall, but like Virginia, it has been quite a while, with the last championship coming in 1987.

The winner of this game will move into Saturday's semifinal round against either top-seed Miami-Florida or eight-seed Boston College.

The Wolfpack came into the season with a ton of hype and were not only regarded as the favorite in the ACC, but a real contender for the national title. The team didn't really live up to expectations, but possesses the kind of firepower to make an extended postseason run. Loaded with offensive weapons, NC State averaged the second-best scoring total in the ACC (77.7 ppg), while ranking first in field-goal percentage (.494). Five Wolfpack players rank among the top-25 in the league in scoring, headlined by C.J. Leslie (14.9 ppg) and Richard Howell (12.7 ppg), who leads the conference in rebounding (10.6 rpg). Howell led the way in the first round with a double- double consisting of 22 points and 12 rebounds. Leslie followed with 15 points, while Scott Wood and T.J. Warren tallied 13 points apiece. The usually efficient Wolfpack were at it again, converting a hefty 52.8 percent from the floor against Virginia Tech

While ranking just 11th in the conference in scoring (64.3 ppg), it isn't at the offensive end of the floor where Virginia wins games. The Cavaliers lead the conference in scoring defense (54.5 ppg), ranking fourth nationally in that regard. The result of the play at the defensive end is a team that ranks second in the ACC in scoring margin (+9.8). Despite modest offensive numbers overall, the Cavs do have a potent inside/out game led by guard Joe Harris (17.0 ppg) and forward Akil Mitchell (13.1 ppg, 8.9 rpg). Scoring depth is scarce beyond the top two though, as no one on the team other than Harris and Mitchell are netting more than 6.6 points per game.

The Wolfpack were stifled by the Cavaliers in their only meeting this season, but NC State is coming off a strong offensive showing against Virginia Tech and it may carry over in this one.
Sports Network Predicted Outcome: NC State 74, Virginia 64

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RE: Wood, Leslie push Pack past Cavaliers 75-56

You have to love the ACC. Great job PACK. Later Duke. We will see what happens tomorrow.

RE: Wood, Leslie push Pack past Cavaliers 75-56

Great game from start to finish, Pack. Congrats! Hope Howell is OK.
- Posted by jgunn

What happened to Howell?

(I didn't watch the game yet -- had too much to do at work...)
- Posted by TruthBKnown Returned

TBK, Howell got a quad injury, most likely a charlie-horse type thing. He was out for a little while, but got it taped, and then returned to the game. You could tell that he was obviously favoring it. Having had that same injury before, I know from first hand experience that it typically hurts worse the next day. Maybe the trainers can work some medical magic on him and he can play without it bothering him too much.
- Posted by timdouthit

Well that stinks... hope he can make it tomorrow. We HAVE to have him to battle Miami's big man.

RE: Wood, Leslie push Pack past Cavaliers 75-56

way to be PACK! Hope Rich is OK.

RE: Wood, Leslie push Pack past Cavaliers 75-56

Great game from start to finish, Pack. Congrats! Hope Howell is OK.
- Posted by jgunn

What happened to Howell?

(I didn't watch the game yet -- had too much to do at work...)
- Posted by TruthBKnown Returned

TBK, Howell got a quad injury, most likely a charlie-horse type thing. He was out for a little while, but got it taped, and then returned to the game. You could tell that he was obviously favoring it. Having had that same injury before, I know from first hand experience that it typically hurts worse the next day. Maybe the trainers can work some medical magic on him and he can play without it bothering him too much.

RE: Wood, Leslie push Pack past Cavaliers 75-56

The PACK is just getting warmed up !

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