The N.C . State men’s basketball team took the No. 19-ranked Virginia Cavaliers down to the final shot, but fell short, at home by a final score of 61-60.
Leading the way for the pack was sophomore guard C. J. Leslie with 17 points, 11 of which he had in the first 10 minutes of the contest. Other leaders for the Pack included junior forward Richard Howell with 11 points and a career high 18 rebounds, nine of which were on the offensive end.
Head coach Mark Gottfried was really pleased with the effort by Howell.
“Richard was great, I was disappointed that he fouled out; he had 18 rebounds, so many of his rebounds were tough traffic, effort rebounds. I though his effort was terrific,” Gottfried said.
The Virginia Cavaliers shot 60 percent from the floor in the second half, including going 5-for-11 from behind the arc. Sammy Zeglinski was the beneficiary of some well-set screens and was able to knock down his perimeter looks in the first half. Joe Harris would also have success from downtown, going two-for-four from three-point range. Both Harris and Zeglinski finished the game with 12 points each.
In the first half, both teams traded buckets, but neither team could mount a substantial lead in the first 20 minutes of play. With the Wolfpack shooting just 1-of-6 from three and going 6-for-11 on the free-throw line, the Cavaliers would capitalize on their opportunities to go into the locker room with a 39-31 lead at the break.
Mike Scott would lead the ‘Hoos in scoring at the break with 10 points. Scott would finish the game with 18 points, going 5-of-11 from the field but a notable 8-of-11 from the free-throw line. Gottfried was impressed by Scott’s performance and noted the challenge of defending the 6-foot-8-inch forward.
“He’s a matchup nightmare, with his ability to shoot 15 footers and score on the block, [Virginia head coach] Tony does a nice job of putting your defense in some tough situations because of his play,” Gottfried said.
The second half provided more of the same as both teams would go back and forth until Virginia was able to mount a run to push the score to 55-45 with 6:31 left in the game. The Wolfpack , however, would use clutch free-throw shooting by C.J . Leslie and Richard Howell to bring the game to 51-56 with 4 minutes left.
Down the stretch, both teams filled the RBC Center with drama as the Cavaliers would capitalize on getting the ball inside to force the fifth foul on Howell. Mike Scott would make both shots from the line to push the ‘Hoos lead to 61-57 with 1:31 left in the game. On the next, possession junior Scott Wood drained a three pointer from the side of the court to cut the deficit to 61-60 with 45 seconds left.
After Sammy Zeglinski would miss a shot and a rebound on the defensive end by C.J . Williams, the Pack would have 7.8 seconds to try and win the game. Gottfried would call a timeout to set up what would be the final play of the game. According to Williams, the play was designed for Brown to create off a screen and possibly look for Wood in the corner.
“We wanted to get the ball to Lorenzo [Brown] off a ball screen by DeShawn [Painter] to try and get him into the lane and make a play,” Williams said.
The Cavaliers would force Brown into the corner after a defender read the screen, leading Brown to get double-teamed and forcing a bad look as the Cavaliers would escape Raleigh with a one-point, 61-60 win.
The Wolfpack’s next game will be on the road against Boston College Wednesday, Feb. 1.
