North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State
#18 Vanderbilt
Leslie Powers Pack in Nailbiter with No. 20 Vandy
11/19/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 19, 2011
Box Score | Box Score 
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EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - C.J. Leslie made a splash in his return to action with 20 points on 7-of-9 shooting as NC State pushed 20th-ranked Vanderbilt to the brink on Saturday, ultimately falling 86-79 in the first round of the TicketCity Legends Classic.
"I thought [Vanderbilt] executed a little better, made a couple more shots, and that was simply the difference," said NC State head coach Mark Gottfried. "I thought our guys competed hard. Maybe in the last couple of minutes we had some errors, but I like the effort from our group. We're going to build on it."
Leslie scored 18 of his 20 points in a high-scoring first half that saw the Pack go 15-of-25 from the field to hang tough against Vanderbilt's eight made three-pointers. Leslie went 6-of-6 over the stretch.
With Leslie falling victim to cramps around the six-minute mark of the second half, NC State big men DeShawn Painter and Richard Howell picked up the slack admirably to push the Wolfpack back into contention.
Howell finished with 16 on 8-of-14 shooting with nine rebounds to lead the Wolfpack in that category. Though Painter only added seven points, his lowest production of the year, five came with under 4:10 left, the stretch that decided the outcome. Lorenzo Brown paced NC State with six assists to go with 13 points.
The Wolfpack trailed for the entire game until an Alex Johnson three-pointer with 8:04 left in the second half. NC State's first lead of the game proved fleeting, as the Commodores answered immediately to knot the game at 66-66.
The teams traded baskets and the lead over the next five minutes until a crucial sequence swung the game Vanderbilt's way. Painter's reverse layup claimed a 77-76 lead for NC State inside of three minutes. The Commodores responded by tipping in an offensive rebound to jump ahead 78-77.
Lorenzo Brown's three rimmed out on the next possession. Quickly on the other end, John Jenkins's fourth three-pointer of the game put Vanderbilt on top 81-77 at 1:16, a lead the Commodores held until the final buzzer.
NC State withstood a barrage of three-pointers that left the Wolfpack in a 6-0 hole out of the gate by storming back to make it 9-8 in favor of the Commodores at 16:57.
Vanderbilt's lead stretched out again to 13-8 before the Pack made three trips to the line in three possessions to close the gap to 16-14.
NC State got it to 31-30 at 8:42, but could not tie it up until 43-43 at 2:09. A Jenkins three-pointer retook the lead for Vandy and pushed the Commodores to a 49-45 lead at the break. Leslie had 18 at half, on a 6-of-6 clip from the field, while Jenkins notched 18 of his own to lead the Dores.
The Pack comes back Monday in the early game against Texas. Tip-off takes place at 6:30 p.m. with coverage on ESPN3 and 101.5 FM.
