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Wood, NC State take 88-81 victory at Fla. State

Jan 13, 2010 - 3:24 AM By BRENT KALLESTAD Associated Press Writer

TALLAHASSEE, Fla.(AP) -- Scott Wood couldn't make a basket in warmups. That didn't stop him from shooting once the game started.

The freshman scored a career-high 31 points to lead North Carolina State to an 88-81 upset of No. 25 Florida State on Tuesday night, spoiling the Atlantic Coast Conference home opener for the Seminoles.

The Wolfpack (12-5, 1-2 ACC) hit 11 of 23 3-pointers with Wood connecting on 7 of 11 attempts from behind the arc. Farnold Degand added 13 points and Julius Mays 12, including 10 straight free throws for the winners.

"The last five minutes in warmups I couldn't hit a shot," Wood said. "At least I came out hitting."

Wood, who twice scored 38 points in high school, drew his largest ovation of the night when he finally missed, a free throw actually, late in the game.

He admitted that he was, to use an old sports cliche, "unconscious."

"Even a couple shots I took I thought 'why am I shooting this?' And they just went in. I'm just like 'alright, just keep puttin' it up there,"' he said. "Once you have that confidence you feel you can hit anything."

Three quick baskets by Wood, including a go-ahead layup, keyed an early 16-1 run that gave N.C. State a 23-12 lead as Florida State went 6:33 between field goals. The Wolfpack never trailed afterward, building their largest lead at 48-35 on a Dennis Horner 3-point shot early in the second half.

Chris Singleton scored 15 of his career-high 22 points in the second half to lead Florida State (13-4 1-2) which lost its second league game in three days.

Solomon Alabi and Derwin Kitchen added 15 points each for the Seminoles while Ryan Reid and freshman Michael Snaer had 12 apiece.

Every time Florida State appeared to get back into the game, Wood would drill another long range shot.

"We had no answer," Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton said.

"It was almost like he was a one-man wrecking crew," Hamilton said. "He hurt us in a lot of ways. He hit some really tough shots when we defended him very well."

The Seminoles closed to within 56-51 with 8:40 left on Deividas Dulkys lone 3-point basket of the night and Wood - who played 37 minutes - countered with a jumper just inside the arc.

"He's a throwback guy," N.C. State coach Sidney Lowe said. "He doesn't get rattled easily."

In addition to hitting 10 of 15 shots, Wood also had seven rebounds to help N.C. State to a 37-28 advantage over the taller Seminoles.

"We were tentative," Hamilton said. "That was discouraging."

A freshman whose previous career high was 15 points, the 6-7 Wood scored 13 points in the first half as the Wolfpack built a 38-31 lead while outrebounding a taller Florida State team 18-12.

Singleton and N.C. State's Tracy Smith shared rebound honors with eight apiece.

N.C. State made 29 of 35 free throws in the game where 53 personal fouls were whistled, including 34 in the second half.