The men’s basketball team is in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament for the first time since coach Sidney Lowe’s first year, when the team made a run to the tournament final, with a 59-57 win over sixth-seeded Clemson Thursday night.
The Pack shot 61.9 percent from the field in the second half to close out the Tigers (21-10) and advance to face Florida State Friday in the quarterfinals at 9 p.m.
Junior forward Tracy Smith led N.C. State with 19 points as the Wolfpack improved to 18-14 overall on the strength of a 52.3 percent effort from the field in State’s best shooting game since a 60 percent clip against N.C. Central Jan. 30.
“I thought we showed nice patience in not forcing shots,” Lowe said during his postgame press conference. “We forced a couple early in the first half and we learned from that. We showed good composure against a lot of pressure.”
Smith also pulled down the final rebound of the game, assuring the junior would reach the second day of tournament play for the first time in his career.
“I didn’t want to give them a chance to get the ball and get up a shot or anything,” Smith said. “I knew there was a little time left on the clock and I just wanted to secure the ball and by that time, I was on it.”
And for the players who had been to the quarterfinals before, there was also the thought of the season ending to inspire the seniors, like guard Farnold Degand, to play hard.
“This could have possibly been my last game so I was going to leave everything on the court and I was able to help our team get a little momentum,” Degand said.
State managed to hold the lead for most of the first half thanks to Smith’s nine points and Richard Howell’s six rebounds. The Pack led 25-21 as the teams headed into the locker rooms at halftime.
State started the second half hot with two quick baskets by Smith and Horner to force a Clemson timeout, but the Tigers regrouped and cut the lead to three at 33-30 after some sloppy ball handling by the red and white.
The Pack built the lead back again, but after an intentional foul called against State and a Clemson three-pointer, the lead was again three before freshman Scott Wood connected from behind the arc to put his team up 47-41.
Clemson got key contributions from senior big man Trevor Booker down the stretch as he created extra possessions for himself and teammates with rebounding on the offensive end. Booker finished with 17 points to lead the Tigers.
But with his team trailing 51-47, Booker was whistled for his fourth foul on a C.J. Williams dunk attempt. Clemson coach Oliver Purnell left his center in despite his foul trouble, but Williams hit both free throws and a put-back basket at the 2:10 mark left his team down 55-47.
Lowe said bottling up Booker was one of the keys to his game plan against Clemson.
“We took away some of the things they like to do,” he said. “We did a nice job of bothering Booker somewhat.”
Booker fouled out with less than 10 seconds to go, with State leading by three, and the Pack survived to the next round by hitting free throws.
