DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.— Tracy Smith's basket with 1.3 seconds remaining lifted N.C. State to a 60-58 victory over Auburn on Sunday night.
The Wolfpack (4-0), the only team to go unbeaten in the Glenn Wilkes Classic, struggled on offense for most of the game. Smith, their top returning scorer from last season, had an especially tough game, missing 14 of his first 16 field goal attempts.
But the 6-foot-8 junior delivered in the final minute, first with a three-point play and then on the game-winning basket. Smith grabbed a loose ball after Julius Mays missed a 3-pointer and scored.
Smith finished with 11 points and 15 rebounds and was selected tournament MVP.
"There is no better way to learn how to win a close game than this," N.C. State coach Sidney Lowe said. "We gave great effort the whole night, we kept coming back with fight. We talk about loose balls all the time, and Tracy's basket at the end was a prime example of how we tell them they have to always fight."
Both teams had their problems on offense in the first 20 minutes. Even with Smith going 1-of-10 from the floor, the Wolfpack led 26-25 at halftime.
The Tigers (2-3) got three 3-pointers from Frankie Sullivan, but were 1-of-7 from the free-throw line.
DeWayne Reed, who had 24 points in Auburn's come-from-behind win over IUPUI on Saturday, went without a field goal until almost 8 minutes into the second half.
But Reed and Sullivan combined to score all 15 of Auburn's points during a 3-minute stretch in which the Tigers went from trailing by eight to leading by three.
Sullivan led all scorers with 21 points, highlighted by a four-point play where he was fouled by C.J. Williams while hitting a 3-pointer from the top of the key.
Williams twisted his right ankle with less than 8 minutes remaining and was unavailable down the stretch.
Smith missed a number of shots near the basket and twice failed to convert the front end of a one-and-one. But thanks mostly to him, the Wolfpack outrebounded the Tigers 43-36.
Dennis Horner led N.C. State with 16 points. Scott Wood and Javier Gonzalez added 10 points each, and Gonzalez had six assists.
State built on its one-point halftime lead, opening the second half on a 13-3 run to push the score to 39-28 with 15:39 left.
Auburn responded after a timeout with a 13-2 run to capture the lead at 43-41, its first since the first half. The Tigers expanded their lead to 49-43 before back-to-back Pack 3-pointers evened the score with 3:59 left.
The score remained close into the final minute.
Smith converted a conventional three-point play with 50 seconds left to push State ahead 57-56. After a Javier Gonzalez free throw, Auburn tied the score with 12 seconds remaining.
Smith then came through with the pivotal basket.
The Pack scored the final four points of the half, and took a 26-25 lead at the half.
State shot just 26.7 percent (8-30) in the opening half, but pulled down 11 offensive rebounds and scored 11 second chance points. The Pack would also make 8-of-10 free throws in that first half, compared to Auburn converting just 1-of-7 from the line.
The Pack will return to home action this weekend, when State hosts New Orleans on Sunday at 2 p.m. at the RBC Center.
N.C. STATE (4-0) — Wood 4-9 1-1 10, T.Smith 4-18 3-6 11, Horner 6-13 2-2 16, Williams 3-6 0-0 6, Gonzalez 3-9 3-4 10, Painter 0-2 2-3 2, Vandenberg 0-1 0-0 0, Davis 0-1 0-0 0, Mays 1-4 2-2 5. Totals 21-63 13-18 60.
AUBURN (2-3) — Hargrove 4-6 1-1 9, Lett 3-6 0-4 6, Reed 3-11 1-4 9, Sullivan 7-14 1-1 21, Ross 1-5 0-0 2, Malone 1-7 1-2 4, Armstrong 0-0 0-0 0, Neysmith 0-0 0-0 0, Knox 3-4 1-3 7. Totals 22-53 5-15 58.
Halftime—N.C. State 26-25.
3-point goals—N.C. State 5-19 (Horner 2-4, Gonzalez 1-4, Mays 1-4, Wood 1-5, Williams 0-2), Auburn 9-23 (Sullivan 6-11, Reed 2-5, Malone 1-3, Ross 0-2, Hargrove 0-2).
Fouled out—None.
Rebounds—N.C. State 43 (T.Smith 15), Auburn 36 (Reed 8).
Assists—N.C. State 13 (Gonzalez 6), Auburn 12 (Reed, Sullivan 4).
Total fouls—N.C. State 12, Auburn 18.
A—616.
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