No. 23 NC State Wolfpack Opens ACC Play with 78-73 Road Win At BC
It’s the first time the Wolfpack has won an ACC opener on the road since 1997. Senior Scott Wood comes off the bench in the final four minutes to score all 12 of his points and freshman Rodney Purvis scored a career-high 19 points.
CHESTNUT HILL, MA Jan. 5, 2013 – NC State won its ACC opener on the road for the first time since 1997 by beating Boston College on Saturday afternoon, 78-73, at Conte Forum, thanks to 12 quick points by senior Scott Wood in the game’s final four minutes.
Wood, scoreless because of foul trouble in the contest, came off the bench with 3:45 to play to hit a pair of 3-pointers and six straight free throws for the Wolfpack, which made 21 of 24 shots from the charity stripe in the second half after a 4-for-11 performance in the first half.
Wood was one of six Wolfpack players to hit double-figure scoring on the night, as freshman Rodney Purvis had a career-high 19, senior Lorenzo Brown had 14, senior Richard Howell and Wood had 12 each and junior C.J. Leslie added 10.
Howell also had 11 rebounds for his eighth double-double of the season and the 21st of his career.
The last time the Pack opened its ACC season with a win on the road was on Dec. 4, 1997, when it beat Georgia Tech 71-69 in Atlanta.
It is, however, the second year in a row the Pack has won its first ACC road game, following last year’s win at Wake Forest, which followed two conference home games on the Pack’s schedule.
Holding on to a tight 29-28 lead at halftime, the Wolfpack came out of the lockerroom strong, outscoring the Eagles 8-2 in the first two minutes and forcing BC to call timeout as the Pack extended its lead to seven points. Included in the scoring run was four straight free throws by Leslie and Purvis.
After Wood picked up his fourth foul, the Eagles used a 15-4 scoring run to take a 48-43 lead with 11:56 remaining in the game.
The score was tight the rest of the way, until Wood returned to the lineup to help seal the victory.
“I liked the outcome, but I didn’t like the way we played,” said second-year head coach Mark Gottfried. “We were running with cement boots on in the first half and didn’t get into the flow of the game.”
The Pack trailed by as many as seven points midway through the opening stanza and three Wolfpack starters had two fouls each with six minutes remaining. That’s when freshman Rodney Purvis scored seven straight points for his team, including the Pack’s first 3-pointer of the game.
Purvis finished the game with 19, his first foray into double-digits since he had 10 against Norfolk State on Dec. 15, 2012, at PNC Arena.
Warren followed Purvis’ outburst with the ninth consecutive point by a freshman, to give the Pack a 26-24 lead.
The two freshmen combined to score 11 of the Pack’s final 12 points of the first half.
The Pack, despite being outrebounded 15-13 and going 4-for-11 from the free-throw line, owned a 29-28 lead at intermission, thanks in part to another strong shooting effort. The nation’s top shooting team was 12-for-21 (57.1 percent) from the field in the opening stanza.
The Pack is 11-0 this season when leading at the half.
The Wolfpack returns to PNC Arena on Wednesday at 8 p.m. to face Georgia Tech in its ACC home opener. Tickets are available via the GoPack.com Ticket Center here.
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