The Florida Gators shocked N.C. State, 62-61, after a last-second heave ended the Wolfpack’s upset bid Saturday afternoon at the RBC Center. Junior forward Chandler Parsons hit a 65-footer as time expired in overtime to win the Gators’ third in a row against the Wolfpack.
“This one really hurts. I mean, [losses] all hurt, but this one really hurts,” coach Sidney Lowe said.
After Florida’s sophomore guard Erving Walker hit two free throws with 3.3 seconds left in the overtime to cut State’s lead to 60-59, the Gators fouled senior point guard Farnold Degand on the inbounds pass.
After making his first free throw, Degand clanked his second off the front of the iron. The rebound went right to Parsons, who dribbled around the court before throwing a two-handed shot in desperation that found the bottom of the basket.
“I thought our guys made plays down the stretch when we had to … But we couldn’t finish the ball game off,” Lowe said. “They made their free throws and we missed ours. And on that last one, we allowed their guy to get to the ball and throw one up.”
Both teams struggled to make a basket in the game, with the Gators and the Pack shooting 38 percent and 40 percent from the floor, respectively. But Florida made the one that counted and walked out of the RBC Center with a victory.
“We were very fortunate to win,” Gator coach Billy Donovan said. “It was one of those shots where nothing was diagramed, there’s no play, a guy just took the ball.”
Junior forward Tracy Smith finished with 21 points and 9 rebounds. Freshman guard Scott Wood and junior point guard Javier Gonzalez also hit shots down the stretch to keep the Pack in the game and force an overtime. In the overtime, Gonzalez scored the opening five points to open up State’s biggest lead since before halftime, but all those good performances were dampened the way the game was lost.
“I really didn’t say a lot to [the players],” Lowe said. “I just told them to bring it in and we will talk about it the next day, because right now it is too emotional.”
State will play Holy Cross Wednesday in the team’s final non-conference clash before the main block of the ACC schedule, which begins when the Wolfpack host Virginia Saturday.
