NC State
#19 North Carolina
Pack Falls to No. 19 UNC, 75-63
2/23/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 23, 2011
RALEIGH, N.C. - NC State built an early lead against No. 19 North Carolina, but was unable to overcome a late scoring surge by freshman Harrison Barnes, who made a pair of follow dunks and a 3-pointer in the final four minutes to seal the Tar Heels' 75-63 victory Wednesday night at the RBC Center.
Barnes, held scoreless in the first half, finished the contest with 16 points, while teammates Kendall Marshall added 14, Dexter Strickland had 13 and Tyler Zeller 11.
For the Wolfpack, freshman C.J. Leslie led with 13 points, senior Tracy Smith had 12 and freshman Lorenzo Brown 11 in front of the sellout crowd of 19,700 spectators.
"Our guys were ready to play and I was proud of their effort," said NC State head coach Sidney Lowe. "They knew it was a big game. I think they showed it, the way they came out with great energy."
But the Wolfpack made some costly mistakes down the stretch that allowed the Tar Heels to pull away.
"You have to play smart basketball," Lowe said. "That means taking better shots, especially at crunch time. And not turning it over with a three-on-one. We have to be able to keep our composure and be strong when the pressure is on."
NC State (14-13 overall, 4-9 ACC) jumped out to a quick lead in the first half, by scoring nine consecutive points after the Tar Heels made the first basket of the game. That lead opened up to 19-9, as the Tar Heels made just four of their first 15 shots.
UNC (21-6, 11-2) shot just 36.4 percent from the field in the first half, though it eventually began making transition baskets and scored on four consecutive possessions to cut the Wolfpack lead to four points.
NC State guard Scott Wood was called for an intentional foul while guarding Barnes. North Carolina scored four consecutive free throws on the possession to cut the lead to just two points. Strickland tied the game with a 3-pointer with 4:35 on the clock and John Henson gave his team the lead after picking up a loose ball. The Tar Heels took a 31-29 lead into the half.
Harrison, who missed all six of his shots in the first half, came out scoring in the second as the Tar Heels stretched their lead to 46-37 in the first six minutes by making seven of their first eight shots.
"They made a couple of plays that weren't there before," Lowe said. "You don't want to take anything away from them, but we also made some poor decisions. You can't take quick, bad shots against a team like them. They make you pay.
"They got a couple of offensive rebounds, which really hurt us. They understand what its all about. They knew they had to make a run, and they got it done."
But the Wolfpack also came back. Sophomore Jordan Vandenberg, seeing significant in place of injured teammate Richard Howell, scored on an alley-oop dunk from Brown, setting off an 13-4 run capped by senior Javi Gonzalez's three-point play with 11:28 remaining and C.J. Williams' dunk from a Brown pass with 10:38 remaining that tied the score at 50.
But both Vandenberg and Wood picked up their fourth fouls within 10 seconds of each other, and Brown later became the third Wolfpack player to reach four fouls. Reggie Bullock converted a three-point play on Wood's foul with 9:25 remaining. The Pack answered on Williams' jumper, but the Tar Heels reeled off seven unanswered points to stretch its lead back to 60-52.
Leslie scored in the lane, and the Wolfpack had two opportunities to cut UNC's lead to two possessions. But Harrow, one of the nation's top free throw shooters, missed a pair from the line, and Brown was unable to convert a three-point play with 5:21 remaining.
Barnes scored on two follow dunks, stretching North Carolina's lead back to eight points with 3:41 left in the game.
The Wolfpack returns to the RBC Center Saturday to face Georgia Tech in a 2 p.m.
• By Tim Peeler, tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
