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RALEIGH (AP) — What was supposed to be a nice break from the ACC grind turned into a tough game Saturday for N.C. State.

The Wolfpack found itself trailing by seven points early against road-weary N.C. Central, which in three previous games against ACC foes had lost by 47, 30 and 42 points.

N.C. State went to its money player in the second half, shot 60 percent overall and forced the Eagles into a bevy of bad shots on the way to a 77-42 victory at a mostly empty RBC Center.

"They came out with more energy than we did in the first half," said Tracy Smith, who led the Wolfpack with 23 points on 9-of-11 shooting. "The second half, we played harder than they did."

Apparently, the Wolfpack didn't think it needed to play hard against the Eagles, who had yet to beat a Division I team this season and were playing the last of five consecutive road games.

"Maybe we took them for granted," N.C. State's Dennis Horner said.

The Wolfpack had little energy, in part because the building that seats 19,700 had just 2,217 fans, no band and no cheerleaders because of a winter storm.

The Wolfpack (14-8) trailed 11-4 early and didn't take the lead until 6:37 remained in the first half. The game remained close until N.C. State rattled off a 15-2 run to go into the locker room with a 27-20 lead.

"We knew it was a bad-weather day, not a lot of people coming out, and we said, We have to create our own energy," Smith said.

The Wolfpack shot 78.3 percent after halftime, a season-best for a half, to outscore the Eagles 50-22 after halftime.

"I thought the deciding difference in the game was from the 3-minute mark on down in the first half," N.C. Central coach LeVelle Moton said. "Things just didn't go our way from that point on."

"We recovered at halftime, but we kind of wore down. They did a good job getting the ball to Tracy, pounding it down there, playing it through him, and we didn't have an answer."

Smith scored 14 points in the first 12 minutes of the second half, and the Eagles missed 17 of their first 19 shots after halftime.

The Wolfpack had lost at Maryland and at home to North Carolina in the previous week and, for the first 13 minutes, seemed headed toward another defeat. This one, however, would have been far less palatable, given that N.C. Central entered the game 0-17 on the road and 4-18 overall.

Smith's layup with 8:47 remaining put the Wolfpack in front 53-34. Smith was 5 for 5 from the floor in the second half.

"When we get the ball to him, good things happen," teammate Josh Davis said.

Horner added 13 points and six rebounds for N.C. State, which made 18 of 23 shots after halftime and outrebounded the Eagles 36-24.

"I thought we were patient, very patient," N.C. State coach Sidney Lowe said. "Our interior passing was pretty good."

C.J. Wilkerson led NCCU with 16 points. The Eagles shot just 26.5 percent, including 16.7 percent (5 of 30) in the second half.