ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, March 9, 1997 TAG: 9703110039
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: GREENSBORO, N.C.
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK THE ROANOKE TIMES
By ousting the Terps, the Wolfpack's improbable - and record - ACC tournament run continues today in the championship game.
What for most of the season was the Little Red Riding Hood of ACC basketball has become the not-so-big, bad Wolfpack.
For the third time in less than 48 hours, North Carolina State used a huge second half Saturday to win in the ACC tournament.
The Wolfpack became the lowest seed to reach the tournament's championship game in the event's 44-year history, rallying to beat bigger Maryland 65-58 before a capacity crowd at Greensboro Coliseum.
The 23,250 witnesses weren't nearly as stunned as one day earlier, when the eighth-seeded Wolfpack sent top-seeded Duke home - although they saw something no ACC tournament had witnessed before.
The first five play-in game victors never won another game in the tournament. State (16-13), which bounced Georgia Tech on Thursday night, has become the first team to win three games in an ACC tournament without getting a title and NCAA bid to go with it.
``Maybe I should leave well enough alone,'' State coach Herb Sendek said when asked to analyze how his team had gotten to today's 1 p.m. championship game against North Carolina.
``We just tried to do what we prepared for,'' said C.C. Harrison, State's All-ACC guard. ``We're playing with a lot of confidence right now. We just go out and play hard.''
Is the Wolfpack tired?
``Not quite,'' Harrison said.
State, however, has worn out opponents in the second halves of their three tournament triumphs. The Wolfpack's field-goal percentages in the victories are .591, .545 and .560.
State seemed to expect little more out of its first ACC appearance under Sendek than an NIT bid, where a potential first-round opponent is East Carolina. The Wolfpack didn't check into a Greensboro hotel until after beating Tech.
``I really can't explain this, other than our players dig as deeply as they can,'' Sendek said. ``They are using all of the resources they have.''
That doesn't include a bench. In the three victories, the Wolfpack has no baskets - and only three shots - from its reserves. The only bench points against Maryland were two gargantuan free throws with 2:15 left by center Luke Buffum. He had become State's only second-half sub 16 seconds earlier.
Buffum was only sticking with the improbable theme. Coming into the game, he had tried nine foul shots, making three. His pair extended the Wolfpack's lead to 57-49.
``My reaction echoed the crowd,'' said Sendek, referring to a group amazement.
The problem for Maryland (21-10) was that 22nd-ranked Maryland let State stay in the game. The fifth seed could have smashed Cinderella's slipper by halftime.
The Terps shot 53 percent in the first half and outrebounded State 17-6. But with 13 turnovers, coach Gary Williams' club only led 25-20.
``We shot 50 percent today, but we turned the ball over 21 times,'' Williams said. ``We didn't get enough shots [44].''
State took the lead for good with 15 minutes to play. Harrison's 3-pointer from the top of the key gave the Wolfpack a 32-29 edge. After halftime in the three tournament triumphs, the Wolfpack has outscored Tech by 15 and both Duke and the Terps by 12.
State's patient offense, praised by Williams, was very efficient down the stretch and went back-door for several hoops. The Wolfpack scored on 11 of its last 14 possessions.
Sendek now has one-fourth of the all-time tournament victories by first-year ACC coaches (the record is 12-34).
``The back door plays State got, they shouldn't be there,'' Williams said. ``They're good plays, but we knew those plays. We just made mistakes mentally, and when you do that and you're playing someone with that kind of confidence, they take advantage of it.''
State's charge to the championship game from the No.8 seed surpasses the 1977 Virginia club that reached the final and lost to North Carolina as a No.7.
It will be the Wolfpack's first final since it beat UNC a decade ago in Landover, Md.
ASSOCIATED PRESS Jeremy Hyatt (left) and the rest of the Wolfpack have been hard to handle in the ACC tournament.
ASSOCIATED PRESS N.C. State fans brought back memories of the Wolfpack's 1983 national championship team while cheering Saturday during the semifinals of the ACC tournament in Greensboro, N.C. NOTE: please see microfilm for scores.
LENGTH: Medium: 90 lines KEYWORDS: BASKETBALLby CNB