North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State Defeats Wake Forest 88-74
1/13/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) -Gavin Grant scored 24 points and Courtney Fells added a career-high 20 as NC State beat Wake Forest 88-74 on Saturday to give coach Sidney Lowe his first Atlantic Coast Conference victory.
Brandon Costner added 17 points for the Wolfpack (11-6, 1-3), which won its first road game and avoided its first 0-4 conference start since the 1996-97 team started 0-7 under first-year coach Herb Sendek.
"It feels great," Lowe said. "The guys played hard. They were active, aggressive, and we executed our offense pretty good and got good shots. The big thing is that we came out very aggressive and we had a lot of people who played and gave us great quality minutes."
Lowe used a 1-3-1 trapping halfcourt zone that helped to force 22 Wake Forest turnovers and led to numerous easy baskets. N.C. State shot 61 percent and hit 9-of-20 3-pointers.
"[The 1-3-1] was effective for us," said Lowe. "I'm not sure if they'd seen us play it or not, but it was certainly effective for us to get into it and force them to do other things."
Kevin Swinton scored 16 points, but leading scorer Kyle Visser was plagued by foul trouble and had only 11 points and two rebounds for the Demon Deacons (9-7, 1-3), who lost their second straight game - both at home - despite shooting 54 percent.
In a sloppy game befitting two teams picked to finish at the bottom of the league, NC State exploited the Demon Deacons' inexperienced backcourt. Freshman point guard Ishmael Smith and backup Shamaine Dukes struggled against the Wolfpack's traps in a decisive first-half run.
"The 1-3-1 caused some confusion," Grant said. "That was big for us because we were able to cause some steals and get some easy baskets. Courtney was big in the first half; he carried us. I think we outworked them today."
Fells and Costner hit 3-pointers in a 12-0 spurt that gave NC State a 43-27 lead late in the first half as the Demon Deacons struggled just to get a shot off. Wake Forest committed 11 first-half turnovers in falling behind 50-32.
Lowe, who has routinely used only six players in games this season, played nine players in the first half. Former walk-on Bryan Nieman had two steals in the half and finished with two points and four rebounds. Even Darrell Davis, a wide receiver on the NC State football team, was called on early and ended up playing six minutes.
"We've been telling guys to get ready," Lowe said. "We didn't tell them that we were going to put them in, but wanted them to be ready and they responded. Darrell was outstanding in there. Bryan and Trevor [Ferguson] came in and they played well for us."
Wake Forest, which has won four games this season after trailing by double digits, cut a 22-point deficit to 12 on Visser's shot in the paint with 4:25 left. But Ben McCauley answered with a half hook at the other end and the Wolfpack were never threatened again as they won at Wake Forest for only the third time in 17 games.
NC State wasn't hurt by missing point guard Engin Atsur for the 11th time in 12 games due to a hamstring injury. Grant filled in at the point and had five rebounds and four assists and the Wolfpack overcame 19 turnovers.
"The thing about about it is that we had two great practices," Lowe said, referring to workouts on Thursday and Friday. "Everyone has been focused. We came out and we played that way. We had great carryover from practice into the game, and now we've got to build from that. With a young group, you've got to show them that this is what you have to do and you have to do it every single day. Hopefully, we're starting to understand that a little better."
