Hickson’s Free Throws Lift Pack Past FSU, 69-66

YES!!!

For the third time in as many outings, NC State was involved in an ACC game that literally went down to the last shot. And for the second time in its unusually dramatic stretch of games, the Wolfpack finished on top.

Freshman center J.J. Hickson put the Pack in front by knocking down a pair of clutch free throws with nine seconds left, then preserved the lead by swatting away Toney Douglas’s driving attempt with three seconds remaining, preserving the Pack’s 69-66 win at Florida State (13-8, 2-4) on Saturday.

Rookie point guard Javier Gonzalez provided the Pack with its final margin of victory by making 1-of-2 free throws with 2.2 seconds left before the Wolfpack (13-6, 2-3) survived a midcourt heave by Douglas that hit the rim at the buzzer.

“We told J.J. to stay in the lane because we knew his guy wasn’t going to go out and shoot a 3,” Lowe said, describing Hickson’s block on Douglas. “Javier was able to get up and stay in front of him and make it tough. Both guys made good basketball plays. The block in the end was huge.”

NC State’s first conference road victory featured a number of heroes. There was guard Courtney Fells, whose tough, banked in 3-pointer with 40 seconds left tied the score at 66. There was also Gonzalez, who played 24 minutes with only one turnover against Douglas, the ACC’s steals leader. As has been his habit, senior forward Gavin Grant also made some big shots and important plays in the second half.

“I’ve said we’ve been making progress in a number of areas,” Lowe said. “Today was another example of that. Our last three ballgames we’ve come out and played pretty hard and today was a great win for our guys.”

Although he played only 25 minutes because of foul trouble, Fells led the scoring parade with 16 points. Battling FSU’s physical defense in the post most of the afternoon, Hickson tallied his sixth double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. And after missing his first five shots in the opening half, Grant came alive to score 14 points.

Before Saturday, the road had not been kind to NC State. In lopsided losses at North Carolina and Clemson, the Wolfpack was rarely competitive and never seemed to possess enough firepower or toughness to make a move after falling behind.

The Pack looked like a totally different team on Saturday.

It started with Lowe shaking up his starting line-up. Ben McCauley opened in the spot that had been held down by Brandon Costner. Costner, who has been struggling, continued to have a hard time on Saturday, going scoreless in 12 minutes off the bench.

Primarily a man-to-man team most of the season, the Wolfpack also opened in a 2-3 zone against the smaller, quicker ‘Noles. The zone worked for awhile before Florida State caught fire from the 3-point line. Ralph Mims knocked down a pair of 3’s, then Isaiah Swann added another during a 9-0 run that put FSU ahead 31-19 with 5:08 left in the half.

NC State then put together one of its most impressive stretches of the year. Ignited by pressure man-to-man defense, the Wolfpack scored the last 17 points of the half to grab a 36-31 advantage at intermission.

The 17-0 blitz opened with Grant burying a 3 and then scoring on a layup off of a nice feed from Hickson. Active on the defensive end, forward Dennis Horner also gave the Pack a shot in the arm with a pair of buckets late in the half. Florida State meanwhile, missed its last seven shots of the half, while also turning the ball over five times.

“We walked in at halftime and the first thing I said to the coaching staff is it was fun to watch our energy, our effort and our communication out there on the floor. The defense was solid. Even in the second half our defense wasn’t that bad. We got some fouls, but we were still aggressive with it. I thought our guys did a great job on the defensive end.”

The tightly-played second half featured seven ties and six lead changes.

Douglas who led the Seminoles with 17 points, became a virtual one-man show in the final minutes with his darting drives to the basket.

His 3-point shot with just under three minutes left made it 62-59, Florida State. A minute later, Fells answered with a 3-ball of his own to make it 62-62. With 57 seconds remaining, Douglas got past Gonzalez on a drive and knocked down an off-balance jumper in the lane to put the ‘Noles ahead, 66-63.

After an NC State timeout, Fells came flying off a pindown screen and launched a deep 3 from the top of the key that banged off the glass and through for a 66-66 tie.

“We ran the play and obviously if Courtney is open he’s got the green light to shoot the basketball,” said Lowe. “He took it from a little deeper than I thought he would and banked it. It was about time for us to get one of those. I’ll take it.”

Following Fells’ fortuitous jumper, Douglas tried another dribble drive off of a 1-4 low set, but this time Gonzalez contested the shot and the ball caromed off the rim and into the waiting arms of Hickson, who was fouled hard by Ryan Reid with only nine seconds on the clock.

The rookie big man then calmly dropped a pair, putting the Pack ahead to stay.

Shooting 46 percent from the field (20-of-43), the Wolfpack made 9-of-21 3-pointers. Florida State was 7-of-17 from the arc, but shot just 36.8 percent for the game. The ‘Noles, who lead the nation in free throw accuracy, finished 17-of-20 from the line and won the battle of the boards, 35-28.

“I thought Dennis [Horner] did a good job coming off the bench for us and obviously what Javier did was huge,” said Lowe. “I thought everyone that played did a good job for us.”

Wolfpack Falls To Georgia Tech 77-74

Another Pack Loss!!!!!

Georgia Tech hit six consecutive free throws in the final minute of play, and held off NC State 77-74 Wednesday night at the RBC Center.

The Wolfpack (12-6 overall, 1-3 ACC) led by as many as seven points in the second half, but allowed a brief surge with three minutes to play and could not overcome the Yellow Jackets’ advantage. The Wolfpack also had a final shot to tie the game, but there was a miscommunication in bringing the ball up the court and freshman Javi Gonzalez’s open shot from the right wing was well short of the basket.

“It was kind of confusing, and we didn’t have any timeouts left,” Gonzalez said.

NC State freshman J.J. Hickson gave the Wolfpack a chance by converting a three-point play with 28.5 seconds to play, cutting Georgia Tech’s lead to 73-72. The Pack kept putting the Yellow Jackets (9-9, 2-3) on the line, but D’Andre Bell hit two foul shots and Anthony Morrow added four in a row to seal the victory.

The Wolfpack, which never led in the opening period, broke a 34-34 halftime tie Gonzalez raced by Tech’s Maurice Miller for a layup. A seven-point scoring burst, ending with a thunderous by Hickson from a Gavin Grant pass with 16:14 to play, gave Sidney Lowe’s team a 43-38 advantage.

State maintained that lead until the seven-minute mark, when Georgia Tech guard Matt Causey converted a three-point play on a foul by Gonzalez. A pair of turnovers by the Pack led to a Jeremis Smith dunk and a three-point play by Gani Lawal that gave the Yellow Jackets a 60-55 lead with 5:58 to play.

The Wolfpack came back with a pair of free throws from senior Gavin Grant and a dunk by junior Courtney Fells, thanks to a no-look, behind-the-back pass from junior Ben McCauley.

Fells capped off a four-point possession, by getting an offensive rebound on a missed free throw, then converting a three-point play to give his team a 65-63 lead with 3:41 to play. But the Yellow Jackets answered with six consecutive points, on a Causey layup, a Bell dunk and a pair of Zach Peacock free throws.

State missed four straight shots during that span, getting its only points on a pair of Brandon Costner free throws with 1:44 to play. Meanwhile, the Yellow Jackets scored on their final seven possessions and 13 of their last 15. For the game, Tech made 59.2 percent of its field goals, while the Wolfpack converted 49 percent.

“In the second half, we made a run and we started to turn the ball over a little bit,” said Wolfpack coach Sidney Lowe. “We had some unforced errors that hurt us.”

Both teams had trouble holding onto the ball in the first half, with Tech committing 12 turnovers and the Wolfpack giving away 11. In the second half, the Yellow Jackets had only three, while the Wolfpack seven more, including a couple down the stretch when it was trying to maintain a slim lead.

“We had some unforced turnovers,” said Fells, who had a game-high 23 points. “Their pressure really didn’t bother us. We were just careless out there. We have to do better than that. It’s ACC time and we have to win some games.”

In addition to Fells scoring, Hickson added 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Pack. Causey led the Yellow Jackets with 18, with Bell and Gani Lawal contributing 13 apiece.

Tech jumped out to a 7-0 lead with a pair of layups and a 3-pointer by Anthony Morrow to open the game. Fells hit a pair of 3-pointers to keep the Pack close in the early going and finished the first half with 11 points.

The Yellow Jackets led by as much as 20-11 with 11:51 remaining in the half, but State intensified its defense and didn’t allow the score to get out of control. Hickson helped lead a 14-5 run that tied the score at 25 with 7:31 remaining in the half, ending with a 3-pointer by Costner.

The Jackets led 34-29 with 2:19 remaining in the half, but Grant hit a pair of free throws and Gonzalez hit an open 3-pointer from the top of the key to knot the game going into halftime.

The Wolfpack hits the road for its next two games, playing at Florida State at 1:30 p.m. Saturday and at Duke at 9 p.m. next Thursday. Lowe and his team return to the RBC Center Sunday, Feb. 3, at noon to face Wake Forest.

Grant's Game-Winner in OT Lifts Pack over Miami, 79-77

Gavin Grant’s backcourt steal and layup with 2.1 seconds remaining in overtime gave NC State a 79-77 victory over No. 21 Miami Saturday night at the RBC Center.

Grant, who scored 18 of his 24 points in the second half, had just missed a drive to the basket with the Wolfpack trailing by two points. But freshman teammate J.J. Hickson was there for the putback to tie the game with 3.9 seconds to play.

Then, Miami’s Anthony King tried to inbound the ball to teammate Jack McClinton, but threw it right to Grant instead. Grant, already a veteran of making last-second baskets to lead the team to wins over Villanova and Davidson, took the ball right over the top of King for the game-winning shot.

“I think he thought I had an orange jersey on,” Grant said afterwards. “I don’t know what he saw there, but I am glad I saw it. I can’t really take credit for it – I was just standing there and the guy threw me the ball.”

Actually, Grant started to head back down court when he saw McClinton standing in the lane. Grant changed directions, stepped in front of McClinton, grabbed the ball and went right to the basket.

“I think you have to give credit where credit is due,” Wolfpack coach Sidney Lowe said. “That was just great presence of mind by Gavin. We did tell him they had no time outs, so he knew they were going to try to get it in quick. He just made a play, got the steal and made the basket.”

The Wolfpack (12-5 overall, 1-2 ACC) badly needed a win after opening the ACC schedule with road losses at North Carolina and Clemson. Lowe’s team played the first half with a renewed energy from Grant and Costner. It even got an emotional lift from junior Ben McCauley, who status was questionable coming into the game because of a sprained ankle.

Early in the second half, the Pack led by as many as 12 points, but the Hurricanes wiped that out behind the scoring of McClinton, who made eight of his first nine field goals in the second half, including four 3-pointers. McClinton, who made only one of seven field-goal attempts in the first half, had 22 points in the second half and a game-high 26 on the night.

Miami (14-3, 1-2) took a four-point lead in overtime on a jumper by Anthony King and a pair of free throws by McClinton, the latter coming with 52.1 seconds to play. But NC State junior Courtney Fells, who missed a potential game-winner a the end of regulation, hit a 25-foot 3-pointer from the top of the key to cut that lead to one, and King made only one of two free throws with 15.3 seconds to play, giving the Pack an opening in the final seconds.

“Courtney shot was just as important as the basket I made,” Grant said. “If he doesn’t hit that, we don’t have a chance of getting a game-winning shot.”

Miami led by as many as five points in the second half, but freshman Javi Gonzalez hit a game-tying 3-pointer with 4:48 remaining in the game, erasing what had been as much as a five-point Miami lead. Grant followed on the Pack’s next possession with another shot from beyond the arc, allowing State to retake the lead.

“I thought our guys came out with good energy,” Lowe said. “I thought they fought the entire ballgame. We knew they were going to come back and make a run in the second half. We knew McClinton would try to get them back in it. We made the plays we needed to win the game. It was just a great play by Gavin to steal that pass and get it in.

“But we also had some great plays by several individuals. Javi, in particular, did a great job handling the pressure down the stretch and executing our stuff.”

Grant led the Wolfpack with 22 points and five rebounds. Sophomore Brandon Costner, who had scored just four points in his team’s last two games, added 16 points, including 10 in the first half to help his team build a 36-27 lead at intermission. Hickson and Fells each added 14 points and Hickson also had a team-high nine rebounds.

But, even after Costner opened the second half with a 3-pointer to match the largest lead of the game, Miami fought back behind the scoring of McClinton. Twice after Hickson was called for offensive fouls, McClinton buried 3-point shots and added another high-banking layup to give the Hurricanes the lead 45-44 with 13:15 to play.

“We were ready to play tonight,” Lowe said. “We could sense that in the lockerroom. The focus was definitely there. Now, we have got to take that step further in our next ball game and see if we come out with the same energy.”

NC State returns to action Wednesday against Georgia Tech at the RBC Center. Tip-off for that game, which will be broadcast on ESPN2, is slated for 7 p.m.

Tar Heels Rout NC State To Remain Undefeated! :( :(

I think that we are way better than this. I hope that we really are more of the team that I saw in the second half and not the first half.
I am well aware that Carolina is the #1 team in the nation, but them being favored by 20 points in a rivalry game and then killing us the way they did in the first half really hurt being the true NC State Wolfpack Fan that I am.
I know we will turn this around and I am ready to prove that we are that #3 predicted team in the ACC.
GO WOLFPACK!

Top-Ranked Tar Heels Burn Wolfpack, 93-62

WOW!!!!!! THIS ONE REALLY HURTS!!

Five minutes into Saturday afternoon’s game at top-ranked North Carolina, the situation looked promising for NC State: The game was tied at 9-9 and speedy Tar Heel point guard Ty Lawson was on the bench getting his tender ankle checked out.

But as soon as Lawson re-entered the game with 10:47 remaining in the first half, Carolina were off and running, and the Wolfpack couldn’t keep up. The 93-62 loss ended the Wolfpack’s seven-game winning streak.

The undefeated Tar Heels (17-0 overall, 2-0 ACC) went on an epic scoring run, reeling off 25 unanswered points while the Wolfpack missed 18 consecutive shots. By the time the buzzer sounded for halftime, UNC had outscored the Pack 34-4 and were leading 43-13.

The Wolfpack (11-4, 0-1) had trouble holding on to the ball, committing nine turnovers in the half, and no one could find a shooting range, as the team combined to shoot just 17.6 percent (6-for-34) from the field. Most disturbing was the Pack players couldn’t hit their closest shots, making just three of its 21 shots in the paint.

Senior Gavin Grant missed all seven of his shots before halftime, freshman J.J. Hickson was 2-for-9 and junior Ben McCauley was 2-for-7.

“It seemed like there was a lid on that hoop,” said McCauley. “We were missing layups. Not shots, layups. That’s unfortunate, because we know we have guys who can make those shots. I am kind of at a loss for words, because I just didn’t see that coming.”

The Pack’s biggest problem, McCauley said, was losing its patience and trying to run with the Tar Heels once Lawson re-entered the game.

“That’s not our pedigree,” he said. “When we slow things down and run our sets, we are a great basketball team. We didn’t do that today.”

Meanwhile, the Tar Heels sizzled behind the scoring of All-America center Tyler Hansbrough and sophomore Deon Thompson, who combined for 19 first-half points. Lawson played most of the rest of the game, tying Thompson for team honors with 16 points.

Nothing seemed to go right for Sidney Lowe’s team, which missed all six of its first-half 3-point attempts and was out-rebounded 31-17 in its ACC opener.

So no matter how much things changed in the second half – and the Wolfpack did score nearly four times as many points as it did in the opening half, thanks to a handful of 3-pointers by junior Courtney Fells and an offensive awakening by Hickson – the hole State dug for itself was deep enough to hit the subterranean water table even during the region’s worst drought in 100 years.

“We did learn from it,” said Fells, who was in the starting lineup despite missing much of the second half of Wednesday’s victory over North Carolina Central with a high ankle sprain. “We learned we just need to put the ball in the hole. In the second half, I thought we showed heart and character, and I liked that.

“We just need to keep staying behind each other.”

Fells led the team in scoring with 16, followed by Hickson with 14. The Tar Heels had five players in double-figures, including Hansbrough, Wayne Ellington and Danny Green with 13 points apiece.

Now, Lowe and his team will have to regroup in time for its trip Tuesday night to Clemson’s Littlejohn Coliseum. That game is slated to tip-off at 7 p.m. The Wolfpack returns to the RBC Center next Saturday to face Miami at 8 p.m.

Lowe hopes his team learned a couple of valuable lessons in the 31-point defeat.

“This is what it is going to be like,” Lowe said. “This is how the conference is going to be played. I don’t know about building on what we did in the second half, but understand that this is the environment we are going to be in and we are going to have to execute. We have to play good basketball to win on the road or at home.

“These types of environments exist in our conference and we have to be ready to play. We have to do the right things at the start and be patient, and not so excited that we break away or try to do everything ourselves.”

Pack Blitzes NC Central, 54-29; Wins 7th Straight Game

NC State coach Sidney Lowe got just what he wanted in the Wolfpack’s final non-conference game of the season: a comfortable lead from start to finish.

The Wolfpack (11-3) never trailed Wednesday night in a 54-29 victory over North Carolina Central at the RBC Center, earning its seventh consecutive win by holding the Eagles to just 20 percent shooting from the field for the game.

Sophomore Brandon Costner led the way with 18 points and seven rebounds, while freshman J.J. Hickson added 13 points and eight rebounds. As a team, however, the Wolfpack struggled to put points on the board, hitting just 36.4 percent of its shots overall and making just four of 21 attempts from 3-point range.

That doesn’t so much worry Lowe, whose team led 27-18 at the half. That lead was never in jeopardy, even as the Wolfpack went more than eight minutes in the second half without a field goal.

“From a defensive standpoint, I thought we were very good,” the coach said. “In the first half, they got some offensive rebounds and had some put-backs that hurt us, but I thought for the most part, we played well defensively.

“They played their zone defense and stuck to it. They were not going to let us throw the ball inside. Our guys had to try to make some shots from the outside and we didn’t do it. Thank God our defense was solid.”

What most concerns Lowe, however, is his team’s dwindling depth. Junior guard Courtney Fells injured his right foot with 4:35 remaining in the first half. Fells, who did not score in the contest, was diagnosed with a sprained ankle. He was taken for X-rays after the game, but those game back negative for broken bones.

The Wolfpack – already playing without starting point guard Farnold Degand, who is out for the rest of the season with a torn knee ligament – played its second consecutive game without sophomore Dennis Horner, who suffered a high ankle sprain in practice last week. His status for Saturday’s game against top-ranked North Carolina will be determined later this week, Lowe said.

“Depth is a concern, with the injuries we have right now,” said Lowe. “We came into the season with a lot of people, where we could go nine or 10 deep, but our rotations are getting a little shorter now. That is my biggest concern. I am not really concerned about our shooting, as long as we keep our defense solid.”

But Fells and Horner were certainly missed against the Eagles, who stayed tightly packed into a zone defense, keeping the ball out of the hands of the Wolfpack’s big men. State’s guards made just one of 15 shots from 3-point range, with forward Costner hitting on three of six.

Lowe did take the opportunity to insert reserves Trevor Ferguson, Simon Harris and Tracy Smith for a little more game experience as his team gets ready to finish with 16 straight conference games.

The Wolfpack begins its conference slate with back-to-back road games, beginning Saturday at noon against the top-ranked Tar Heels. It then travels to Clemson Jan. 15 for a 7 p.m. contest at Littlejohn Coliseum.

The game against North Carolina is a rematch of last year’s ACC Tournament championship game. The Tar Heels won that game, 89-80, at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, Fla.

“I feel like we have enough talent and enough experience to come away with a win,” said Costner, who scored 30 points in the title game. “I think we have played enough teams that trap and press and are fast like they are. We are going to come in and work on a few things in practice and get ready to go over there.”

The Pack’s next home game will be an 8 p.m. contest on Jan. 19 against Miami.

Hickson Leads Wolfpack Over Western Carolina, 74-62

NC State coach Sidney Lowe and his team knew Western Carolina couldn’t keep up its torrid shooting Saturday afternoon, but the coach was happy to use the opportunity to instruct his team about playing better defense and the dangers of suffering an emotional letdown at the end of a rugged holiday stretch.

The result was an improved second-half performance and a rugged 74-62 victory over former NC State assistant coach Larry Hunter and Western Carolina. It was the fifth consecutive victory for the Wolfpack (9-3), including four in the last eight days.

The Catamounts opened the game with an 8-0 lead and stretched their advantage to 10 points on several occasions, thanks to a 7-for-10 shooting performance from the 3-point line. At halftime, Catamounts led 41-32 after Camden Miller hit another long-range bomb with less than 10 seconds remaining.

But in the second half, behind the scoring of freshman J.J. Hickson, the Wolfpack (9-3) rocked the RBC Center with both its offense and its defense. The Catamounts missed nine of their first 10 shots after intermission, as the Wolfpack went on a 19-4 scoring run.

“I thought our guys kept their composure after falling behind and came out in the second half and played defense the way we are capable of playing,” Lowe said. “We only gave them 21 points and held them to 24 percent shooting (8-for-33).

“Our only message was to defend, and if you don’t defend, you are going to come out of the game. It was real simple. I wasn’t even worried about offense.”

Sophomore Brandon Costner gave the Wolfpack its first lead of the day by draining an open 3-pointer after a cross-court pass from junior Courtney Fells with 11:38 remaining in the game. Hickson, who had a game-high 33 points and 13 rebounds, was a key contributor in the decisive run, scoring on a three-point play to open the half after Western Carolina missed on a 3-point attempt. He had 10 points in the first 11 minutes of the second half and finished the game 10-for-11 from the field.

“I give credit to J.J. because he plays hard in there,” Lowe said. “But I also give credit to his teammates because they looked for him and found him. They knew he had an advantage down there. They were patient enough. We had some opportunities for outside shots, but we turned them down to get it to the big fella inside.”

Hickson also made the most of his opportunities. A day after being forced to stay after practice to work on his poor free-throw shooting, Hickson made 13 of his 16 shots from the line.

“There was nothing specifically said about getting the ball to me and no plays called to get it to me,” Hickson said. “I just took it upon myself to go in and try to carry my team. I just kept on posting up hard, getting my defender on my back and getting the ball from my teammates.”

As well as the Catamounts (4-8) shot the ball from the perimeter in the first half, they had a hard time getting anything to fall in the second because of the Wolfpack’s intense defense. However, they did tie the score again after the Wolfpack surged ahead by as many as six points and were within one point, 63-62, with 3:42 to play.

But the Wolfpack scored the game’s final 11 points, seven of which came at the free-throw line.

Hickson’s total was just two off the school freshman scoring record set by Ernie Myers against Duke in 1983. The performance topped the 31 points Hickson had against William & Mary in his first collegiate game.

Junior Ben McCauley added 12 points and Costner had 10.

The Wolfpack players were happy about the team’s defensive intensity to open the second half, but they know it will have to come earlier next time around.

“One thing we need to work on is playing like we did in the second half in the first half,” said McCauley, who now has back-to-back double-digit games off the bench. “We need to come out with all the energy in the world, getting teams down and keeping them down. That’s what we did in the second half.

“If we do that in the first half, we are going to be all right.”

In the first half, the Wolfpack committed 11 turnovers, which tempered the team’s 10-for-20 shooting performance. The Catamounts not only attempted 14 more shots in the half, they made four more shots from beyond the arc.

The Wolfpack has a week off before hosting Presbyterian next Saturday at 2:30 p.m.