The ACC Standings - 02-10-2008

(As Of February 10)
School	Conf.	Pct.	Overall	Pct.
Duke	9-0	1.000	21-1	.955
North Carolina	6-2	.750	21-2	.913
Maryland	6-3	.667	16-8	.667
Clemson	5-3	.625	17-5	.773
Virginia Tech	5-5	.500	14-10	.583
Georgia Tech	4-4	.500	11-11	.500
NC State	4-5	.444	15-8	.652
Wake Forest	4-5	.444	14-8	.636
Miami	3-6	.333	16-7	.696
Florida State	3-6	.333	14-10	.583
Boston College	3-6	.333	12-10	.545
Virginia	1-8	.111	11-11	.500

Maryland Kills State in the second hallf! MD over the Wolfpack, 84-70

Damn! The 20 Minute Pack...Again!

Prior to its game against NC State on Saturday night, Maryland had been 0-5 this season when trailing at halftime. The Terrapins made it very clear coming out of the lockeroom that they had no intentions of falling to 0-6 when facing a deficit at the break.

Down to the Wolfpack by two points at intermission, Maryland shot a blazing 74.1 percent (20-of-27) in the second half on the way to an 84-70 victory in front of 17,950 fans at Comcast Center.

Winners of six of their last seven ACC games, the Terrapins (16-8, 6-3) got career performances from point guard Greivis Vasquez and forward James Gist. Falling just one rebound short of a triple-double, Vasquez riddled NC State (15-8, 4-5) all night with 13 points, 15 assists and nine boards.

Gist anchored the frontcourt, powering his way to 30 points and nine rebounds.

After spending most of the season trying to figure out why his team was getting off to slow starts, NC State coach Sidney Lowe is now wondering why the Wolfpack hasn’t been able to come out with focus and energy in the second half of games. Just nine days ago, the Pack led at Duke by nine at the break before eventually falling by 20. And even in taking a 14-point halftime lead over Virginia Tech on Tuesday, NC State struggled to close out the Hokies before finally prevailing by 10 points.

“We didn’t come out with the right intensity,” Lowe said. “We came out somewhat flat and I’m trying to understand why. We’re going to keep an eye on that now and make sure those guys are doing what they’re supposed to do because we can’t get a lead on a team and then come out flat and play the way we did. They scored eight of the first nine times and it was all defense for us.”

In getting 13 points from Gavin Grant and eight from freshman big man J.J. Hickson, NC State controlled most of the opening half. The Wolfpack scored the first seven points of the game, forcing Terps coach Gary Williams to spend a timeout. With 3:31 remaining in the half, a Brandon Costner jumper put the Pack in front 31-22, and again Williams took a timeout.

That’s when the tide started to turn.

Gist scored seven points on a jumper, a dunk and a 3-point basket, igniting a 9-2 end of half run that left the Terps behind 33-31 at intermission. Gist, in fact, was a virtual one man show, scoring 18 of his team’s 31 points in the opening 20 minutes. NC State played the final 4:58 of the half without Hickson, who picked up his second foul on a borderline charging call in the lane.

“His second foul was one he shouldn’t have gotten,” said Lowe. “They called charging on him, and whether it was charging or not, he should have swung the basketball. A guy was wide open on the wing and he tried to create something himself. At some point you’ve got to get past that and learn from those mistakes. That’s probably the most disappointing thing for me right now is that we don’t seem to be learning from those mistakes.”

The second half was all Terps.

Gist, Vasquez and forward Landon Milbourne were all involved in the action as Maryland outscored the Wolfpack 15-5 over the first 4:16 of the half to grab a 48-38 advantage.

Vasquez was usually at the center of it all, shredding the Pack defense with dribble penetration and dishing to open teammates. And when he wasn’t setting up others, the 6-5 Brazilian was hunting his own shot, both in the lane and outside. Nine of Vasquez’s points came in the second half.

“He’s a good basketball player,” Lowe said. “He’s determined to get where he wants to go. He’s good with the basketball, he’s got great size, he uses his body extremely well and he’s a good passer. He’s got a good feel for the game and he can see guys open. He was able to get it to the shooters.”

In winning for the 10th time in 11 games overall, Maryland led by as many as 15 points on two occasions.

NC State actually made 51.7 percent of its shots in the second half, but simply couldn’t keep up the pace as Maryland seemed to hit everything in sight. The Terps opened the half by knocking down 14 of their first 17 shots.

Guard Eric Hayes finished with 14 points, while Milbourne and Osby Bambale tallied 11 apiece to join Gist and Vasquez in double-figures.

NC State was led by Grant’s 17 points. Hickson and Courtney Fells had 14 apiece for the Pack, which shot 44.3 percent (27-of-61) for the game.

Maryland won the battle of the boards 36-26, and had 11 second chance points on six offensive rebounds.

Both clubs did a good job taking care of the basketball. NC State finished with just nine turnovers, while the Terrapins had 11.

"This is probably the best job we've done in the league,” said Maryland coach Gary Williams, who picked up career win number 601. “Coming down the stretch, I was very pleased with the way we ran our offense. Defensively, I thought we really picked up the energy in the second half. I think that really got through to our offense. Sometimes when you're really working on your defense it just carries over to the offense. We worked hard in terms of setting screens and getting people open. I thought Greivis Vasquez was terrific.”

Pack 73-63 Win Over VT

Another Pack Victory!! :)

NC State jumped out to an early lead, built as much as a 19-point advantage and then held on down the stretch to defeat Virginia Tech 73-63 Tuesday night at the RBC Center.

Playing without one-time starter Brandon Costner, who was out with a bruised rib, the Wolfpack clicked from the opening tap and never trailed in its second consecutive victory.

“It felt good to be able to sit down for most of the game and watch our guys execute and defend the way they did,” said Wolfpack coach Sidney Lowe, who has seen his share of last-second outcomes this season, including Sunday’s thrilling win over Wake Forest.

That’s not to say things didn’t get interesting at the end, when the Hokies cut a double-digit lead to just five points in the final 70 seconds. But Lowe and his team held on to even its Atlantic Coast Conference record and notch its sixth consecutive victory over the Hokies, the longest current streak over any ACC school.

The Wolfpack (15-7 overall, 4-4 ACC) now heads to College Park, Md., for an 8 p.m. Saturday game at the Comcast Center against Maryland. Lowe believes his team, 1-3 on the road in the first half of the ACC season, is now in a better position to be successful away from home.

“I think we feel more comfortable on the road, but it’s not any easier,” Lowe said. “We are used to the fans being against us. It’s tough up at Maryland. Those fans are tough up there. They talk to you and talk about you. But there is no question that our guys are better prepared for it now.”

Costner, who sat on the bench in street clothes throughout the game, did not participate because of an injury he suffered Monday in practice. X-rays taken Monday were negative, and Costner tried to practice in Tuesday’s pre-game shoot-around. However, Lowe told him to take the night off, rest up and be ready for the Pack’s two-game road trip to Maryland and Boston College.

Freshman J.J. Hickson led the Wolfpack with 21 points, 13 of which came from the free throw line. Junior Courtney Fells added 14 for the Pack, while freshman Javi Gonzalez had a career-high 11 and senior Gavin Grant added 11.

For the Hokies, four players finished in double-figures, led by junior A.D Vassallo with 16 and freshman Jeff Allen with 15 points.

The Wolfpack led from the outset, after Virginia Tech missed two early layups. The Pack, playing some of its best defense of the season, scored the game’s first six points and never looked back.

When Dennis Horner, celebrating his 20^th birthday, nailed a 3-pointer with 12:19 remaining in the first half, the Wolfpack’s lead was 13-2, forcing Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg to call time out. The Hokies finally scored their second basket of the game, a layup by A.D. Vassallo with 11:52 remaining before intermission, but Fells answered with the Pack’s second 3-pointer of the night.

Less than six minutes before the half, the Wolfpack took its biggest lead of the game, 27-8, when Gavin Grant picked up a loose ball in the backcourt and jammed home a thunderous dunk. The Pack led 37-24 at intermission.

Freshman Javi Gonzalez, making his first start in a month, played well in the first half and scored double-figure points for the first time in his college career, finishing with 11 on the night. He also had a team-high five rebounds.

The Hokies managed to trim the lead to five with 1:10 remaining on a Vassallo layup, but the Wolfpack made its free throws down the stretch to put the game away. For the game, the Pack was 24 of 30 from the line, while Virginia Tech was made seven of 10 free throws. Tech did not take its first free throw until midway through the second half, much to the chagrin of Greenberg.

For the Wolfpack, getting to .500 in the ACC was an important hurdle as the first half of the conference season winds down. But, the players and Lowe were quick to point out, it’s just the first step in accomplishing other goals for the season.

“Right now, we are playing with a lot of confidence,” Hickson said. “We are playing with more chemistry. Brandon didn’t play tonight, but he is still in here with us. We just have to play harder and win these two road games.”

After the games against the Terrapins and Eagles, the Wolfpack returns home on Feb. 16 to face Clemson in a 3 p.m. contest at the RBC Center.

Duke 92-72 Victory Over Pack!!!

We Had Them!!!

NC State senior Gavin Grant sat back in his chair in the hallway of Cameron Indoor Stadium and shook his head, still unable to fathom that the Wolfpack was out-scored by 29 points in the second half of Thursday night’s 92-72 loss to No. 3 Duke.

“I can’t believe the game got out of hand like this,” said Grant, who did his part with a career-high 26 points for the Wolfpack. “I thought it was going to go down to the wire and be a one- or two-point game, if anything.”

Indeed, the Wolfpack surprised the Blue Devils in the first half, seizing a nine-point lead with aggressive, inside play and by out-rebounding Duke 19-9. The Wolfpack gained the upper hand in emotion, and took a 46-37 lead into intermission, only the second time this season Duke has trailed at the half.

But the Blue Devils came out with a different intensity and limited the Wolfpack’s inside success. Led by junior point guard Greg Paulus, Duke revved up its outside shooting, making 13 of its first 19 shots from the field after intermission to overcome the deficit.

Paulus finished the game with 22 points and had all six of his assists in the second half. Freshman Kyle Singler added 19 points. The two shooters combined for a trio of 3-pointers that helped erase the Wolfpack’s hard-won advantage.

Wolfpack coach Sidney Lowe said his team could not match Duke’s elevated intensity in the second half.

“I thought we came out OK, but we kept it to where it was,” Lowe said. “They came out with more intensity. They knew they had to get more to get the momentum in their favor. I thought we came out ready, but they came out with a little more focus, a little more intensity, a little more aggressiveness.

“They knew what they had to do to get this game in their favor.”

In the second half, the Blue Devils (18-1, 6-0) turned it around, playing near flawless basketball on its home court. Duke not only shot better than 65 percent from the floor in the second half, they also out-rebounded the Wolfpack 19-7.

“Obviously, it was two different games," said Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski. "They out-played us in the first half and we out-played them in the second half. We played very well in the second half. It's hard to imagine that we could play better than we did in the second half.”

NC State senior Gavin Grant scored 16 of his career-high 26 points in the first half. Freshman J.J. Hickson had 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Pack, his seventh double-double of the season.

For Duke, sophomore Gerald Henderson and senior DeMarcus Nelson had 18 apiece.

Despite losing four turnovers in the first three minutes of the game, the Wolfpack (13-7 overall, 2-4 ACC) got solid point guard play from both Marques Johnson and Javi Gonzalez and its defense limited the Blue Devils to 45 shooting from the field before the half.

Sophomore Brandon Costner, scoreless in two of his team’s last four games, had 12 first-points, on a 3-pointer and nine free throws. He was limited to just two points in the second half.

Perhaps most amazingly, starters Grant, Hickson and Courtney Fells were on the bench the final 5:09 of the first half with two fouls apiece. During that time, with four reserves on the court, the Wolfpack extended its lead from five to nine points, giving State a 46-37 advantage at intermission. Fells, averaging 17.6 points in the Pack's first five ACC contests, did not make a field goal in the contest and scored only one point.