North Carolina State University Athletics
N.C. State Rallies To Beat Purdue
12/1/1999 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
By Tony Haynes
If the NC State basketball team goes on to achieve many of the goals it set for itself this season, it will likely remember the first night in December. Every successful season usually features a handful of defining moments. The Wolfpack had one such moment on Wednesday night.
Trailing by as many as 12 points in the second half, NC State (4-0) put together a stunning late game comeback and went on to knock off 21st ranked Purdue 61-59 in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Justin Gainey completed the rally by knocking down a three--point basket to give the Pack a 60-59 lead with 14 seconds remaining.
The High point senior freed himself for the winning shot by rubbing off a Ron Kelley ball-screen at the top of the key.
"To be honest with you, it was a broken play," said NC State head coach Herb Sendek. "It was very reminiscent of the shot he hit at Georgia Tech last year."
Gainey's late game heroics at Georgia Tech gave the Wolfpack its first and only win on an opponent's home court last season. Coming into Wednesday's game, Purdue (2-2) had won 42 of its last 43 home games against non-conference opponents at Mackey Arena.
"As soon as I came off the screen, I was looking to create something off the corner," said Gainey, who scored nine points on the night. "Once Kelley screened him (Purdue guard Carson Cunningham) in, I took the first available shot. We really didn't play that well, but guys stuck together the whole game. We really played with heart and fought back on them."
Seven straight Cunningham points gave the Boilermakers a 47-35 advantage with just over 13 minutes remaining. Following a pair of Mike Robinson free throws at the 9:54 mark, NC State still trailed by eleven.
That's when the Wolfpack started chipping into the lead. Utilizing a smaller, quicker line-up, the Wolfpack started disrupting Purdue with a relentless full court press. An 11-4 Pack run made it 52-48 with 8:48 remaining.
Then over the last 6:52, NC State outscored the Boilermakers 11-2. During that final, furious stretch, Purdue turned the ball over seven times against the Pack's aggressive press.
"The full court press turned out to be the turning point in the game," Sendek said. "We were hesitant to press them early because they're one of the better passing teams we had seen on film. Then we were put in a position where we had to do something to get some momentum on our side. We went small and quick. Guys did a great job of creating a frenetic pace for a period of time."
Purdue, which had shredded Florida's press at the Maui Classic just last week, turned the ball over 26 times on Wednesday. The Wolfpack had a total of 13 steals, including four by freshman guard Clifford Crawford.
NC State was fighting back most of the night. After an Anthony Grundy jumper gave the Wolfpack a 2-0 edge, Purdue scored 14 of the next 15 points to take a 14-3 lead. The Pack only managed to connect on one field goal in the first seven minutes. But then, in what perhaps was a harbinger of things to come, State scored eleven straight points to tie the game at 14 apiece.
Purdue owned a 27-23 lead at the break thanks to the brilliant rebounding of Robinson and the shooting of guard Jaraan Cornell. Cornell had 11 points at halftime while Robinson had six points and eight rebounds. Robinson finished with 14 rebounds-nine of which came on the offensive glass.
NC State's bench strength came into play. The Wolfpack reserves outscored their Purdue counterparts 20-6. Kelley had 17 of those points. Grundy led the Pack with 18 points. Freshman Damien Wilkins had just eight points but hauled down 13 big rebounds.
Cornell finished with 16 points. Cunningham had all 15 of his points in the second half.
"Just like our first two games of the year, we had to be tremendously resilient," Sendek said. "We were terrible at the foul line, we didn't execute on offense much of the night and we endured some foul trouble."
After butting heads with Purdue star Brian Cardinal most of the night, NC State forward Damon Thornton fouled out with 9:54 left. Cardinal, who was 0-5 and scored just two points, fouled out with 3:47 remaining.
"I was hoping we could do a good job on (Cardinal), but I don't think anyone would have expected him to go without a field goal," said Sendek. "He and Damon sort of canceled each other out."
The final numbers weren't necessarily pretty. The Wolfpack hit just 37.9 percent of its shots from the field and was an anemic 13 of 23 from the free throw line. Purdue connected on just 34 percent of its field goal attempts.
At the end of the game, there was only one set of numbers that really mattered: NC State 61 Purdue 59.
