January 23, 2012
NC STATE BASKETBALL
GoPack.com
NC State Tops Miami, 78-73
Scott Wood scored 21 points to lead North Carolina State to a 78-73 victory over Miami on Sunday.
The Wolfpack led 55-41 midway through the second half and withstood a late Miami rally. Kenny Kadji’s dunk with 1:44 remaining got the Hurricanes to within 72-68.
N.C. State (15-5, 4-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) responded with five unanswered points, capped by Wood’s two free throws with 18 seconds left.
“I thought it was a gutsy win for us; I’m proud of our team,” head coach Mark Gottfried said. “They made a charge, we were able to withstand it and still found a way to win. I like that about our team.”
Earlier in the game, Wood’s second of three free throws set the ACC all-time consecutive free-throw record of 55 after he was fouled on an attempted 3-pointer with 5:21 remaining. He increased the mark to 58 by game’s end. Duke’s J.J. Redick set the previous record of 54 in 2003-04.
“It’s big, any time you can be mentioned with J.J. Redick and that you beat one of his records is a great accomplishment,” Wood said. “It’s nice to finally get it over with, I guess.”
DeShawn Painter finished with 18 points for the Wolfpack.
J.P. GIGLIO (N&O)
Wood’s streak continues as Wolfpack downs Canes
J.P. GIGLIO (N&O)
Pack’s Williams played through the pain
Associated Press
Wood Leads N.C. State Past Miami 78-73
The Wolfpack led 55-41 midway through the second half and withstood a late Miami rally. Kenny Kadji’s dunk with 1:44 remaining got the Hurricanes to within 72-68.
N.C. State (15-5) responded with five unanswered points, capped by Wood’s two late free throws.
“I thought it was a gutsy win for us; I’m proud of our team,†Gottfried said. “They made a charge, we were able to withstand it and still found a way to win. I like that about our team.â€
The win places the Wolfpack in a three-way tie for first in the conference with Duke and Florida State.
“We’re playing well at the right time,†Wood said. “We just need to continue to get in the gym and work hard and continue to build on this momentum that we have.â€
TheWolfpacker.com
NC State locker room report
Malcolm Grant and Durand Scott both struggled for Miami, and the Hurricanes shot 2 of 20 from three-point land. How was the Wolfpack perimeter defense?
“We’ve done a nice job of getting our hands up, active, and I think what is happening with out team too, there seems to be a maturity with the way we study the scouting report, who we are guarding, the personnel, how we need to guard them, where we need to guard them. We are improving there. Our bigs have helped us some, especially with our perimeter defense. It’s an area that has gotten better, but we realize though that it still has to improve a lot more to be a great team.”
How was it to game-plan against both Johnson and Kadji inside?
“It was hard. I thought Calvin [Leslie] did a great job prior to his foul trouble. He really did a terrific job of covering like a help-side defender. He came from the weakside two, three times and intercepted passes, but he got into foul trouble. What happens is that you get that third and fourth foul, you tend to get real tentative. Players want to stay in the game. They don’t want to foul out.
“We used our zone probably more tonight more than we had in some other games. It was kind of one of those things, possession by possession, and lets try to get out of this thing with the foul trouble we were in. We were able to do it.”
ACC BASKETBALL
Andrew Skwara (accsports.com)
ACC Hoops Power Rankings, Jan. 23
3. North Carolina (15-3, 3-1 ACC)
The Tar Heels trailed by five points at the half in Blacksburg before reeling off a 19-0 run on their way to a 14-point win over struggling Virginia Tech. A home game with a hot N.C. State team (the Wolfpack has won nine of its last 10) next will be a better test to see if Roy Williams’ team really has recovered from that ugly loss in Tallahassee.
Games This Week: Thursday vs N.C. State, Sunday vs Georgia Tech
Previous Rank: No. 34. Virginia (15-3, 2-2)
The Cavaliers made Georgia Tech look like an intramural team, rolling to a 32-point win in Atlanta and holding the Yellow Jackets to a mere 38 points. But that was followed by a 47-45 loss to Virginia Tech at home. Finding more help for Mike Scott (who was double-teamed virtually every time he touched the ball against the Hokies) is a must for the Cavs to avoid such inconsistency.
Games This Week: Thursday vs Boston College, Saturday at N.C. State
Previous Rank: No. 25. N.C. State (15-5, 4-1)
You think the Wolfpack wish they had made a coaching switch sooner? Mark Gottfried already has four ACC wins, which is just one short of the entire total Sidney Lowe had all of last season. Beating Miami on the road is a confidence booster heading into a short road trip to Chapel Hill on Thursday. Scott Wood now owns the ACC record for most free throws made in a row with 58.
Games This Week: Thursday at North Carolina, Saturday vs Virginia
Previous Rank: No. 6
ACC FOOTBALL
Mandy Mitchell (WRALSportsfan.com)
A model for keeping in-state talent in state
I worked in South Carolina for eight years before coming here. I spent four years in Myrtle Beach and another four in Columbia. When I first moved to Myrtle Beach, I would cover signing days including kids going to Virginia Tech, Oklahoma, Georgia, Florida State, but never South Carolina and Clemson.
It was pretty much a given that if you had talent, you were not sticking around to play for the Gamecocks.
AJ Green went to Georgia. Carlos Dunlap went to Florida. Junior Hemingway, who you may remember as this year’s Sugar Bowl MVP, went to Michigan. That is just naming a few off the top of my head.
Over the last five years that has changed. It changed quickly and drastically. The last four Mr. Football winners of the state of South Carolina have all signed, or committed to play for Steve Spurrier. All of those guys were nationally recruited.
UNC FALLOUT
Jeff Gravley (WRALSportsfan.com)
Waiting on the NCAA
It was 12 weeks ago today (January 20) that UNC officials faced the NCAA Committee on Infractions to debate or dispute the nine major violations spelled out in the Notice of Allegations. At the end of the meeting in Indianapolis, NCAA spokeswoman Stacey Osburn said it could be eight to twelve weeks before the NCAA would announce additional sanctions.
We are at the end of that window.
But it’s a window that can be extended beyond the phantom deadline. Ohio State went 18 weeks before hearing its fate from the NCAA.
On the NCAA web-site they spell out what they call a very specific process for notification about the penalties.
“The morning of the release, NCAA public and media relations staff alert the media of the upcoming release. The chair of the Committee on Infractions hosts a telephone press conference to announce the results of the committee decision. A public infractions report is released but specific names are not included. The COI makes no statement about the case until the report is released. ” Source: NCAA.org
