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Wolfpack Barely Survives Against Pepperdine

By Tim Peeler, GoPack.com

Mar 21, 2008

Corvallis, Ore. — Jim Valvano told anyone who would listen that N.C. State’s opening-round game against West Coast Athletic Conference-champion Pepperdine would not be easy.

What he failed to mention, however, was just how ugly this might be.

The ACC champion and sixth-seeded Wolfpack needed double-overtime for a 69-67 victory over the pesky, 11th-seeded Waves, which gave up a seemingly insurmountable lead in the first overtime.

Just as the Wolfpack couldn’t hit field-goal attempts in the first half, the Waves couldn’t hit free throws in overtime, and their misfires at the line were a life-saver for Valvano and his team in the sparsely filled Gill Coliseum on the campus of Oregon State.

In the first overtime, the Waves were celebrating a six-point lead with less than a minute to play and possession of the ball. In the second overtime, they jumped out to an early three-point lead, only to see the Wolfpack pull away with superior shooting from the line.

By the time the buzzer sounded, the Wolfpack had completed its fourth consecutive last-second or overtime victory, and the Waves sat shell-shocked at their misfortunes.

“I think you need to win a game like this if you expect to go far in the tournament,” Valvano said. “You need a little luck if you want to go a long way.”

The last thing the coach and his charges were thinking in the waning moments of regulation, the first overtime and the second overtime were advancing to Sunday’s second-round game against Nevada-Las Vegas. They were simply trying to survive, much of that time with senior point guard Sidney Lowe on the bench after he committed his fifth foul.

Lowe went from coach-on-the-floor to another guy hoping on the bench after a desperation reach-in foul with less than a minute remaining in the first overtime, his brilliant career seemingly over.

That left the Wolfpack’s fate in the hands of its other senior guard, Dereck Whittenburg, who for the second consecutive Saturday (given the late-night finish of the contest) excelled in overtime. Whittenburg hit eight of 10 free throw attempts in the second extra period, similar to his clutch performance last week against North Carolina in the second round of the ACC Tournament, when he scored 11 of his 15 points after regulation.