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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Most prognosticators are not giving North Carolina State much of a chance to make noise in the Atlantic Coast Conference this season.

Tracy Smith is trying to change all that.

Smith's three-point play in the final minute enabled N.C. State to thwart a late comeback bid by Austin Peay and escape with a 66-59 victory at the Glenn Wilkes Classic on Saturday night.

"Everybody is doubting us," Smith said. "Everybody is picking us for the bottom of the ACC. But we're going to turn some heads."

Smith wasn't much of a factor in the second half because of foul trouble. But after the Wolfpack (3-0) saw a 16-point lead at halftime trimmed to four with 1:06 remaining, the junior forward scored on a putback and also hit the free throw after he was fouled on the shot.

The Governors (1-3) trailed 37-21 at halftime before nearly pulling off a repeat of their win at Akron a week ago in which they came back from a 15-point deficit in the second half.

Smith finished with 16 points and Dennis Horner added 15 for N.C. State. Smith, one of two returning starters from last season, had 11 points and five rebounds in the first half, but picked up his third foul 6 minutes into the second half.

"In the first half, we executed and we played hard," Smith said. "But in the second half, we gave up a little bit and let them back in the game."

Partly because of Smith's absence and limited effectiveness, Austin Peay was able to score on layups with greater frequency. But it wasn't until the final 3 minutes that the Governors made things interesting.

Paced by Anthony Campbell, who scored seven of his team-high 14 points down the stretch, Austin Peay sliced its deficit to 61-57 until Smith bailed out the Wolfpack.

"I was pleased with the execution and the effort in the second half," Governors coach Dave Loos said. "We still made too many mistakes, but we got better."

The Governors also got 12 points from Wesley Channels and made almost 60 percent of their shots in the final 20 minutes. But they made only 9 of 18 free-throw attempts and committed 16 turnovers.

The Wolfpack went 6-of-18 from 3-point range. Julius Mays ended the first half with a 3-pointer from the corner that gave them their biggest lead.

"We've seen this team down before and they came back and won the ballgame," N.C. State coach Sidney Lowe said. "So they're never going to stop playing. We just beat a pretty good ballclub."

AUSTIN PEAY (1-3) — Williams 3-5 3-6 9, Campbell 6-12 0-0 14, Fraley 4-6 1-2 9, Caldwell 0-0 0-0 0, Channels 5-14 2-4 12, Brown 2-5 2-2 6, Mosley 0-0 0-0 0, Blake 0-1 0-0 0, Roberson 4-6 1-4 9. Totals 24-49 9-18 59.

N.C. STATE (3-0) — Wood 3-7 2-2 10, T.Smith 7-12 2-2 16, Horner 6-10 1-2 15, Gonzalez 3-10 0-1 6, Williams 2-4 0-0 4, Painter 2-4 2-3 6, Vandenberg 1-2 0-0 2, Davis 0-1 0-0 0, Mays 2-8 1-2 7. Totals 26-58 8-12 66.

Halftime—N.C. State 37-21.
3-point goals—Austin Peay 2-7 (Campbell 2-2, Blake 0-1, Channels 0-2, Roberson 0-2), N.C. State 6-18 (Horner 2-4, Mays 2-4, Wood 2-6, Gonzalez 0-4).
Fouled out—None. Rebounds—Austin Peay 33 (Williams 8), N.C. State 29 (T.Smith 7).
Assists—Austin Peay 9 (Channels 4), N.C. State 16 (Gonzalez 8).
Total fouls—Austin Peay 16, N.C. State 17.
A—457.