North Carolina State University Athletics
Smith Celebrates Birthday With Win Over No. 7 Duke
1/21/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
BY TIM PEELER
RALEIGH, N.C. – NC State junior Tracy Smith stood in the RBC Center interview room, his pointy red hat perched firmly on top of his head, celebrating one of the best gifts he had ever received as a birthday present: a mid-court celebration with Wolfpack fans following his team's 88-74 victory over No. 7 Duke.
The Pack out-hustled and out-played the Blue Devils throughout the game, shooting a sizzling 58.2 percent from the field, and Smith was practically unstoppable by Duke's front court players.
Smith – who played high school basketball at Durham's Mt. Zion Academy, not far from Duke's campus – scored a game-high 23 points and grabbed four rebounds on his 22nd birthday.
Senior Dennis Horner added 20 more, as all five Wolfpack starters scored in double figures.
It was an early birthday gift as well for head coach Sidney Lowe, who is celebrating his 50th birthday on Thursday.
"Coach Lowe told us to come out with a little swagger tonight," said Smith, who made 10 of his 12 field goal attempts and three of his four free throws. "We came out, played hard and had some fun. The key was not letting them do what they wanted to do.
"As for me, I was trying to help my team win. I think I did that."
The Wolfpack (13-6 overall, 2-3 ACC) grabbed a lead early in the first half, by making 16 of 25 shots from the field (64 percent). Duke, meanwhile, was lethargic throughout the contest, finishing the game at just 38.6 percent from the field.
Kyle Singler scored 22 points, but was just 6-for-16 from the field and 0-for-3 from 3-point range. Jon Scheyer made only five of his 16 shots en route to 21 points.
"NC State was great," said Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski. "They were terrific. They came out with superb energy and we could never match their level of play."
Not even an improbable miracle shot – like the ones that beat the Wolfpack against Arizona and Florida – could bring Lowe's team off its Wednesday night high. Duke's Nolan Smith grabbed an offensive rebound as the clock wound down at the end of the first half and threw it towards the basket before his feet even touched the ground for an improbable 3-pointer that cut the Wolfpack's six-point lead to 41-38 at the half.
This time, the Wolfpack had the opportunity to bounce back, by coming out strong in the second half.
Lowe encouraged his team to get the ball to Wood, who did not take a shot in the first half. Within seconds, the freshman was fouled on a 3-point attempt. He made all three free throws, and the Wolfpack was off and running again. Horner took a feed from Farnold Degand for an easy shot in the paint, Smith followed with a dunk and an inside jumper and Javi Gonzalez hit a fallaway jumper for the final points in the 11-3 run in the first three minutes that pushed the Pack's lead back to double-figures.
The Blue Devils (15-3, 3-2) never really matched NC State's intensity, much to Krzyzewski's chagrin.
For Lowe, though, the game was practically perfect, from the start to the bounce back to the finish that set off a court-rushing celebration by the NC State students.
"In the second half, we just talked about coming out and starting over again, the way we did in the first half," Lowe said. "We had great energy. We made a quick run right there at the beginning of the half.
"That was key.
Duke made a couple of hints at a comeback, getting the Pack's lead under 10 points on a couple of occasions. But Wood made a crowd-pumping 3-pointer with 12:47 to play and Gonzalez drained another 3-pointer as the shot clock ticked from one second to zero with 3:52 to play, and the Blue Devils were sent home with a 14-point loss.
The Pack made 19 of its 26 free throws, including seven of nine over the last three minutes.
Senior Farnold Degand put an exclamation point on the Wolfpack's first regular-season victory over the Blue Devils since 2004 by going coast-to-coast for a layup with 1:05 remaining in the game. After that, it was just a countdown until the students could join the celebration.
"That was probably the closest we have come to playing a complete game, from the beginning to the end and finishing off strong," said Lowe, which beat No. 25 Florida State eight days ago and lost a 73-70 to No. 24 Clemson on Saturday. "The intensity was good and we needed to have that to beat a team like Duke. I was just proud of our guys the way the hung in there.
"They made their run and we were able to make our run back."
The Pack players believe the pain of those earlier losses has helped them improved drastically over the last two weeks.
"There have been a couple of times this year when we have gotten a lead and we have taken the pedal off the metal," said Wood, who finished the game with 10 points. "I think today, we had it on about 7,000 rpms and kept it there.
"This is huge."
Lowe surprised the Blue Devils with a full-court press early in the game, which created several turnovers and easy baskets. Duke had no answer for Smith inside, and he matched his new age on a pair of free throws with five minutes to play.
The Wolfpack hadn't beaten the Blue Devils since Lowe's first season, when it took an overtime decision in the opening round of the 2007 ACC Tournament in Tampa, which kicked off the team's run to the title game.
It was the Pack's first regular-season win over the Blue Devils since Feb. 15, 2004, when the Julius Hodge-led squad scored a 78-74 victory over the top-ranked Devils.
"On a scale of 1-to-10, this was a 10," Gonzalez said. "It's always good to beat a rival team like Duke. That is why we came here to beat teams like Duke, North Carolina and Wake Forest. For some of us, it is the first time we have ever beaten them, and it feels pretty good."
The Pack hits the road to face Maryland on Saturday at 6 p.m. on ESPN2. It's next home game is Tuesday against North Carolina, which is slated for a 9 p.m. start.
You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
