North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State
Wake Forest
Wolfpack Rolls Over Wake Forest, 80-55
2/13/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 13, 2011
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WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. --- Tracy Smith poured in 20, while C.J. Leslie matched his career conference-high with 19 points to lead NC State past Wake Forest 80-55 Sunday.
The 25-point margin of victory marks the Pack’s third-largest ACC road win of all-time. NC State’s last ACC road win of more than 25 points came in 1954, when the Wolfpack pulled the feat twice.
Smith’s afternoon included 9-of-12 shooting and eight rebounds. Leslie also added eight rebounds to tie for the game-high.
Lorenzo Brown equaled his career-high with seven assists, matching his total against North Carolina on January 29. Over the last four games, Brown is averaging a team-high 5.8 assists.
“[C.J. Leslie] worked his tail off,” said NC State head coach Sidney Lowe. “He was great in practice, and came out and played well today. I thought our bigs did a great job running the floor and flattening out their defense.”
NC State (13-11, 3-7 ACC) shot 55.9% from the field, boosted by a 19-of-28 (67.9%) second half to outscore Wake Forest (8-17, 1-9 ACC) 43-26 over the final 20 minutes.
In two games this season against the Deacs, the inside duo of Smith and Leslie have averaged 21.5 and 19.0 points per game, respectively.
“It tells a lot about our kids,” said Lowe. “I’ve said all along that they won’t hang their shoulders. I’m glad that the hard work paid off and they continue to keep their heads up. It’s a credit to them.”
After a quick run by Wake Forest to start the second half and cut the Wolfpack’s advantage to 37-33, NC State seized control with a 16-4 run that started with a Ryan Harrow three-pointer, finished with a Scott Wood three, and included two fast break dunks for Leslie.
The Pack lead remained in double digits for the remainder of the game, and grew to 25 thanks to a 19-5 run to finish the game.
Coming out of the gates hot with a 6-0 run, the Pack forced Wake Forest to burn an early timeout at 18:17. After the timeout, a Wood block turned into an easy two for Harrow to make the run 8-0 before Wake Forest got on the board.
NC State held a pair of seven-point leads in the first half, at 19-12 and 24-17, but had each answered with a Wake Forest three-pointer on the following possession.
Leslie converted an and-one on a thunderous dunk with 4:36 remaining to give the Pack its biggest lead of the half, 31-23.
NC State held the eight-point margin into the half, leading 37-29 at the break thanks to 13 points from Leslie, and 10 from Smith on 5-of-7 shooting.
The Wolfpack hosts three of its next four games, beginning with Clemson's visit to Raleigh on Thursday, February 17 at 7 p.m.
