North Carolina State University Athletics
Defense Leads Way Over BC, Pack Now Focuses on Virginia
3/8/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
AP Recap: NC State 78, Boston College 57 | Highlights
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March 8, 2012
Atlanta, Ga. - One down, three to go.
That is the mentality of the Wolfpack after today's 78-57 first round win over Boston College in the 2012 ACC Tournament. Leading from start to finish, NC State (21-11) downed the Eagles (9-22) for the third time this season.
Next up, the Pack gets a rematch with 4th-seeded Virginia at 2 p.m. on Friday. Virginia won the lone meeting this year in Raleigh, 61-60. The game will be on both the ACC Network and ESPN2 (for regions that do not get ACCN).
In its 21-point win over Boston College, NC State got its usual offensive production. Scott Wood hitting from long range (5-of-9), Richard Howell and C.J. Leslie working the boards (12 and 11 respectively), and Lorenzo Brown orchestrating the offense (eight assists).
But it was the Pack's defense that got the Pack off to the quick start against the Eagles in the first half.
State opened the game on a 14-0 run, and Boston College did not record a point for the first 7:13 of the game, starting 0-7 from the field with five turnovers on its first 11 possessions.
"We got after them early," said C.J. Williams. "They run a Princeton-style offense, so we knew we had to get them out of their flow. We were able to create turnovers, and that led to our quick start."
Boston College finally hit double digits with 8:13 left in the first half, but by then State was up 17 points and never looked back.
In building its 37-24 halftime lead, the Pack converted 13 Boston College turnovers into 14 points.
The Pack's ability to create turnovers was huge at the end of the half. After Brown made the score 32-16 with 4:40 left, the Pack would suffer a scoring drought failing to score for over four minutes.
But it was the defense that led to a mini run to end the half, 5-0 over the final 18 seconds. With the shot clock off, BC tried to run down the clock, but Brown swiped the ball from BC's Jordan Daniels and scored a fast-break layup. Then another Daniels turnover led to Williams sinking a three-pointer as time expired and gave the Pack a 13-point cushion at the break.
"That was perhaps the biggest sequence of the game," said Brown. "It gave us that extra edge going into halftime."
In the second half, it was the offense that propelled the Pack to the win. The Eagles opened the half on a 13-6 run, including 9-0 over the first six minutes. But State would answer time and time again with big baskets.
Wood hit a three-pointer after BC got the score to within six points (43-37, 14:05). Then it was Painter cleaning up the offensive boards at 12:15, another Wood bomb at 10:31, and finally Brown converted an and-one with 8:12 left - each time after BC cut the lead to seven points.
"I think two those three-pointers that I hit, started with our defense," said Wood. "Alex (Johnson) did a great job of getting out and finding me in transition, and that is a shot I always like to take."
With Brown's three-point play, the Pack closed the game on a 26-12 run for the decisive score.
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State will surely see the same defensive effort it displayed today against the Cavaliers tomorrow afternoon. Virginia leads the nation in points allowed per possession (0.87), and is second nationally in scoring defense (53.2). UVA has held 11 opponents this season under 50 points, the most by an ACC team in the shot clock era.
"Virginia is the type of team that will be in every game because of the way they play defense," said Williams. "We have to get after them from the tip, just like we did today."
In the lone regular season matchup between the two teams this year, Brown's last-second three-pointer from the right wing was off target, and then-No. 19 UVA came away from Raleigh with a 61-60 win back on January 28. NC State struggled from the field against the defensive minded Cavs, as the Pack hit just 2-of-15 from three-point range, and just 23-of-57 from the field overall.
"We might of let the first game against (Virginia) slip away," said Leslie. "This is a good chance to get back at them. We must win this tomorrow."
