North Carolina State University Athletics
Wolfpack falls 77-74 to Georgia Tech
1/24/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
BY TIM PEELER
The Wolfpack (12-6 overall, 1-3 ACC) led by as many as seven points in the second half, but allowed a brief surge with three minutes to play and could not overcome the Yellow Jackets’ advantage. The Wolfpack also had a final shot to tie the game, but there was a miscommunication in bringing the ball up the court and freshman Javi Gonzalez’s open shot from the right wing was well short of the basket.
“It was kind of confusing, and we didn’t have any timeouts left,” Gonzalez said.
NC State freshman J.J. Hickson gave the Wolfpack a chance by converting a three-point play with 28.5 seconds to play, cutting Georgia Tech’s lead to 73-72. The Pack kept putting the Yellow Jackets (9-9, 2-3) on the line, but D’Andre Bell hit two foul shots and Anthony Morrow added four in a row to seal the victory.
The Wolfpack, which never led in the opening period, broke a 34-34 halftime tie Gonzalez raced by Tech’s Maurice Miller for a layup. A seven-point scoring burst, ending with a thunderous by Hickson from a Gavin Grant pass with 16:14 to play, gave Sidney Lowe’s team a 43-38 advantage.
State maintained that lead until the seven-minute mark, when Georgia Tech guard Matt Causey converted a three-point play on a foul by Gonzalez. A pair of turnovers by the Pack led to a Jeremis Smith dunk and a three-point play by Gani Lawal that gave the Yellow Jackets a 60-55 lead with 5:58 to play.
The Wolfpack came back with a pair of free throws from senior Gavin Grant and a dunk by junior Courtney Fells, thanks to a no-look, behind-the-back pass from junior Ben McCauley.
Fells capped off a four-point possession, by getting an offensive rebound on a missed free throw, then converting a three-point play to give his team a 65-63 lead with 3:41 to play. But the Yellow Jackets answered with six consecutive points, on a Causey layup, a
State missed four straight shots during that span, getting its only points on a pair of Brandon Costner free throws with 1:44 to play. Meanwhile, the Yellow Jackets scored on their final seven possessions and 13 of their last 15. For the game, Tech made 59.2 percent of its field goals, while the Wolfpack converted 49 percent.
“In the second half, we made a run and we started to turn the ball over a little bit,” said Wolfpack coach Sidney Lowe. “We had some unforced errors that hurt us.”
Both teams had trouble holding onto the ball in the first half, with Tech committing 12 turnovers and the Wolfpack giving away 11. In the second half, the Yellow Jackets had only three, while the Wolfpack seven more, including a couple down the stretch when it was trying to maintain a slim lead.
“We had some unforced turnovers,” said Fells, who had a game-high 23 points. “Their pressure really didn’t bother us. We were just careless out there. We have to do better than that. It’s ACC time and we have to win some games.”
In addition to Fells scoring, Hickson added 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Pack. Causey led the Yellow Jackets with 18, with
Tech jumped out to a 7-0 lead with a pair of layups and a 3-pointer by Anthony Morrow to open the game. Fells hit a pair of 3-pointers to keep the Pack close in the early going and finished the first half with 11 points.
The Yellow Jackets led by as much as 20-11 with 11:51 remaining in the half, but State intensified its defense and didn’t allow the score to get out of control. Hickson helped lead a 14-5 run that tied the score at 25 with 7:31 remaining in the half, ending with a 3-pointer by Costner.
The Jackets led 34-29 with 2:19 remaining in the half, but Grant hit a pair of free throws and Gonzalez hit an open 3-pointer from the top of the key to knot the game going into halftime.
The Wolfpack hits the road for its next two games, playing at
You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
