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RALEIGH — There's nothing sexy about a free throw.

It's an open 15-footer, a reward for drawing a foul. There's no shot clock to beat, no defender's hand in the shooter's face. Just a line on the floor, the ball and the hoop.

Make those shots and win. Sylven Landesberg made all eight of his on the way to 23 points, helping Virginia to a 70-62 victory over N.C. State at the RBC Center on Saturday afternoon.

Mike Scott added 14 points for the Cavaliers (9-4, 1-0 ACC), who shot 19-for-20 from the foul line and made their last 17 in a come-from-behind victory.

Miss those shots and lose. Tracy Smith finished with 18 points and nine rebounds to lead N.C. State (11-5, 0-2), but he shot just 6-for-10 from the foul line and the Wolfpack missed 10 free throws — including seven during a stretch of the second half when it could've put Virginia away.

"Free throws can make or break a game," Wolfpack senior Dennis Horner said. "They made their last 17? That's going to finish any team off. It's an easy basket, and you've got to make it. You've just got to."

Horner scored 12 points, and his hoop-and-harm three-point play put N.C. State ahead 53-49 with 5:30 left.

Virginia answered with an 11-2 scoring run over the next four minutes then sealed the victory by shooting 10-for-10 from the foul line in the final 1:02.

"You have to be able to step up there and make free throws," N.C. State coach Sidney Lowe said. "They did. They made free throws. And if you're going to your main guys and drawing fouls, at some time you should feel good about that because your main guys are shooting free throws for you. But we just didn't make them again."

Poor foul shooting cost N.C. State a victory six days earlier, when the Wolfpack went 10-for-19 in a game Florida won on a 70-footer at the overtime buzzer. Two more free throws would've made the buzzer-beater irrelevant.

And a few more early in the second half, when the Pack twice built 10-point leads on Virginia, could've made the Cavaliers' comeback irrelevant.

N.C. State broke a 30-30 tie with a 13-3 scoring run. Smith scored eight points during the surge, but he, Javier Gonzalez and Farnold Degand combined to miss seven free throws.

That left the door open for Virginia. Sammy Zeglinski, who finished with 10 points, and Jeff Jones hit 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions to start the Cavs' comeback.

"I never think you should lose at home, no matter who you're playing," N.C. State freshman Scott Wood said. "If you ever get up 10 in the second half on an ACC team, you've got to put them away. That's the main thing. You can't ever relax, and I think that's what we did a little bit too much today."

N.C. State cut it to 56-55 on two Smith free throws -- his only 2-for-2 effort in five trips to the foul line in the second half — but Scott answered with a jumper for Virginia.

Horner and Gonzalez missed 3-pointers on three of N.C. State's next four possessions.

"We have to be smarter," Lowe said. "We were not smart today at all. Offensively and defensively, at crucial situations ... it's taking good shots, making the right pass and defensively knowing the assignments. We just didn't do the right things. Mentally, I think we broke down."

The Wolfpack was forced to foul after each miss.

And Virginia made its dull-as-dishwater free throws.

NOTES: N.C. State's Javier Gonzalez went 0-for-3 from 3-point range, snapping a streak of 11 straight games with a 3-pointer. … In all, N.C. State was 4-for-14 from 3-point range after averaging nine made 3-pointers in its five previous games. … The Wolfpack's C.J. Williams scored all five of his points in the final 31 seconds. State used the 6-foot-6 Williams as the primary defender on Landesberg, who scored most of his points against other defenders. … This is the 100^th season of basketball at N.C. State, and Thurl Bailey was honored at halftime. Still the best shot-blocker in school history, Bailey made the all-tournament team during N.C. State's run to an NCAA title in 1983, then played 12 seasons in the NBA. Bailey's No. 41 hangs in the RBC Center rafters, between Lowe's No. 35 and Chris Corchiani's No. 13.

Contact Jeff Mills at 373-7024 or jeff.mills@news-record.com

VIRGINIA (9-4) — Baker 1-4 0-0 2, Zeglinski 2-4 4-4 10, Landesberg 7-14 8-8 23, Sherrill 1-5 0-0 2, Scott 5-11 4-4 14, Evans 1-3 0-0 2, Farrakhan 0-4 3-4 3, Jones 3-3 0-0 8, Meyinsse 3-6 0-0 6. Totals 23-54 19-20 70.

N.C. STATE (11-5) — Gonzalez 2-9 2-3 6, Wood 2-5 0-0 6, Williams 2-4 0-0 5, T.Smith 6-12 6-10 18, Horner 5-10 2-3 12, Howell 2-3 1-2 5, Degand 1-2 2-4 5, Vandenberg 1-2 0-0 2, Davis 0-3 0-0 0, Mays 0-2 3-4 3. Totals 21-52 16-26 62.

Halftime—N.C. State 30-26.
3-point goals—Virginia 5-11 (Jones 2-2, Zeglinski 2-2, Landesberg 1-1, Evans 0-1, Baker 0-2, Farrakhan 0-3), N.C. State 4-14 (Wood 2-4, Williams 1-1, Degand 1-2, Horner 0-2, Mays 0-2, Gonzalez 0-3). Fouled out—Degand, Horner.
Rebounds—Virginia 36 (Zeglinski 8), N.C. State 30 (T.Smith 9).
Assists—Virginia 11 (Baker, Zeglinski 3), N.C. State 14 (Williams 4).
Total fouls—Virginia 16, N.C. State 19.
A—16,289.