© 2010 NCSU Student Media
With excellent defense and a breakout game from guard C.J. Williams, N.C. State topped conference rival Wake Forest on Saturday by a final score of 68-54.
With this game, State broke its eight game conference losing streak and improved its conference record to 3-8. Its last win in the ACC came against Duke on January 20th.
“It’s definitely huge, especially with the streak that we were on, you know,” senior forward Dennis Horner said. “Any win [is a] good win. We came out together and played hard as a team. If we stick together like that and we talk to each other out there and we just pump each other up, we can beat anybody.”
Both the coaching staff and players credited the play on the defensive end in getting this win.
“We just played good defense and stayed in front of them, making them make plays that are not there,” guard C.J. Williams said.
The Pack held Wake to 0 for 12 shooting from the three point line. It also held the Demon Deacons to shooting 25.9 percent form the field in the first half and 34.8 percent in the second.
State also forced Wake to commit 23 turnovers, above their season average of 15.2 per game. Wake Forest head coach Dino Gaudio said the defensive pressure from State caused his team into pressure situations throughout the game. He said it especially influenced guard Ishmael Smith, who is second in the ACC in assists, forcing him to commit five turnovers.
“The biggest thing in the game was our offense put way too much pressure on our defense,” Gaudio said. “We hold them to forty percent for the game, but we weren’t scoring the ball, so we just continually put a lot of pressure on our defense.”
Williams also emerged off the bench to have a great impact on the game. Williams, who averages 4 points per game on the season, scored 12 points and brought down 3 rebounds off of the bench.
“It’s been tough for him, obviously coming out starting, then coming off the bench,” coach Sidney Lowe said. “That would be frustrating for any player; you know he wants to play. But he’s never allowed it to affect his work. He comes to practice every day and works hard. He’s always positive, even when he’s down. “
The team also credits its ability to stay focused for the entire game to pull out the win. In the Pack’s last game against Maryland, it let go of a 37-27 lead at halftime to come up short against the Terapins, 67-58. State continued its dominance in the second half against the Deacons by shooting 52.2 percent.
“It feels good,” Williams said. “When we have that slump that we usually have in the second half by the twelve minute mark, we didn’t have that this game. It’s always good when you don’t have that slump and you finish out the game strong.”
Freshman forward Scott Wood said he and his team were happy to avoid a late letdown and pull out the win.
“Basketball is a forty minute game,” Wood said. “We usually play about twenty five minutes, so its nice just to get that forty good minutes of basketball and come out with a victory.”