With losses in four of the past seven games, N.C. State is learning the hard way about the importance of free throws, especially in crunch time. After an 8-1 start to the season, due in part to a team free throw shooting percentage of .648, State is now 11-5 and 0-2 in the ACC going into tonight’s trip to Florida State.
The Pack took on the Arizona Wildcats Dec. 23 and trailed 69-61 with 53 seconds remaining. Due to three missed free throws by Arizona and a furious one-man rally by junior point guard Javier Gonzalez, who scored 10 points in the final 30 seconds, the Wolfpack and Wildcats were tied at 74 with six seconds left. A last second layup by Arizona’s Nic Wise allowed his team to survive its late misses and escape with a narrow 76-74 victory. But in erasing an eight-point lead to tie a game that appeared to be a foregone conclusion with less than a minute left, State made the type of comeback that is possible only when an opponent fails to knock down last-minute free throws.
In a Jan. 3 showdown with the Florida Gators, the Pack again experienced a situation where a team failed to capitalize on a chance to put a close game out of reach at the free throw line. This time, it was State’s own players who struggled enough to keep the game interesting until the final seconds. Despite leading by five with 22 seconds to play, the Pack found itself ahead by only two points with two seconds remaining after the third missed free throw in the final seconds, which left the Gators with the ball and a chance for an improbable victory. Gator forward Chandler Parsons’ subsequent 75-foot heave found nothing but net and gave his team the stunning win.
Junior forward Tracy Smith said he and his teammates need to avoid fading away, something he believes is playing a role in the late misses at the free throw line.
“We just have to keep practicing our free throws,” Smith said. “We have to keep on working at it, concentrating on staying at the line and stop falling back. We fall back too much at the line instead of staying at the line and concentrating on the free throw. We’re kind of running back on the second one like we know it’s going to go in, then we miss it.”
The Pack’s most recent loss, which it dropped Saturday to the visiting Virginia Cavaliers, lacked buzzer-beating heartbreak, but served as yet another harsh example of the significance of free throw shooting. State led the Cavs by 10 points, at 43-33, with 12:35 to play, but missed free throws, among other things, keyed Virginia’s comeback and eventual eight-point victory.
“You have to step up there and make free throws,” coach Sidney Lowe said. “They did. We just didn’t make them. If you’re going to your main guys and they’re the ones getting fouled, most people feel good about that.”
The Pack missed seven free throws in the first ten minutes of the second half to keep the Cavaliers within striking distance. On the other hand, Virginia shot 19 for 20 from the foul line, making its final 17 in a row while outscoring the Pack 37-19 over the game’s final 12 and a half minutes. State finished the game 16 for 26 on free throws.
“Free throws can make or break a game,” senior forward Dennis Horner said. “They made the last 17. That’s going to finish a team off. It’s an easy basket and you have to make them.”
Freshman forward Scott Wood said after the Virginia game free throws have been a point of emphasis and also said the team will work even more on them in the practices to come.
“We’ve been doing a lot of free throws the last couple days in practice,” Wood said. “I can guarantee we will probably be [at the line] a little more tomorrow during practice.”
Lowe said part of the difficulty of improving free throw shooting is how hard it is to simulate pressurized game-like situations in practice.
“You can work on them all you want,” Lowe said. “But it’s hard to simulate the atmosphere of a game and pressure, real pressure, of stepping up there and shooting free throws.”
