Final
Wood, NC State take 88-81 victory at Fla. State
Jan 13, 2010 - 3:24 AM By BRENT KALLESTAD Associated Press WriterTALLAHASSEE, 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.
- NCAA BB
FINAL 1ST 2ND TOTAL
--- --- -----
NORTH CAROLINA STATE 38 50 88
FLORIDA STATE (25) 31 50 81 FINAL
HIGH SCORERS: NORTH CAROLINA STATE - SCOTT WOOD 31, FARNOLD DEGAND 13,
JULIUS MAYS 12
FLORIDA STATE - CHRIS SINGLETON 22, SOLOMON ALABI 15,
DERWIN KITCHEN 15
Jan 12 9:28 PM - 54
rootsRUWTbot Added 12 roots (Close Finish, Upset)
NC State 86, Florida State(25) 81 2nd - 0:24Jan 12 9:25 PM - 42
rootsRUWTbot Added 12 roots (Close Finish, Upset)
NC State 84, Florida State(25) 78 2nd - 0:35Jan 12 9:22 PM - 30
rootsRUWTbot Added 12 roots (Close Finish, Upset)
NC State 71, Florida State(25) 65 2nd - 2:18Jan 12 9:09 PM - NCAA BB
NC STATE 38
FLORIDA ST (25) 31 HALFTIME
Jan 12 8:03 PM
Related News
- FSU outlasts Winthrop in low-scoring affair Dec 22
- Report: Keon Coleman declares for NFL Draft Dec 21
- Florida State dominates UNF thanks to disruptive defense and big night from Darin Green, Jr Dec 19
- FSU vs. UNF: How to stream, watch, notes, game thread Dec 19
- Five things: North Florida Dec 18
- Florida State has woeful shooting night, loses at home to SMU Dec 16
- Five things: SMU Dec 15
- No. 20 FSU women’s basketball falls to no. 2 UCLA Dec 10
- Florida State not competitive against South Florida, loses third straight Dec 9
- FSU vs. USF: How to watch, notes, game thread Dec 9
- FSU softball coach Lonni Alameda to be inducted into the NFCA Hall of Fame Dec 8
- FSU offensive lineman enters the portal Dec 7