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CORAL GABLES, Fla. — N.C. State suffered a scare when Tracy Smith, the team's leading scorer, favored his knee after a collision with Miami's Durand Scott late in the ACC game on Saturday.

Smith went to the bench, but he returned on the next dead ball to help lead N.C. State to a 71-66 win over the Hurricanes. Smith and Javier Gonzalez each scored 19 points to lead the Wolfpack.

"My knee is a little sore, but the win helps take a lot of the pain away," Smith said. "We were hungry to get this game. It's very tough to win an ACC game on the road."

The Wolfpack (16-13, 4-10) took the lead for good on Dennis Horner's two free throws with 1:10 left for a 64-63 advantage. Gonzalez converted six free throws in the next 35 seconds to secure the victory.

N.C. State has won two straight conference games after snapping a five-game conference losing streak.

"This means we're moving up and gaining confidence," Gonzalez said.

Scott had an opportunity to tie the game but missed a contested layup with 47 seconds left.

"We didn't come out with the type of energy we needed to play the game," Miami coach Frank Haith said. "We were just kind of hanging around."

Down by nine early in the second half, N.C. State took a 57-54 lead on Gonzalez's 3-pointer with 5:06 remaining. But Miami's James Dews hit a 3-pointer to tie it at 59 with 3:32 left.

Dwayne Collins led Miami (18-10, 4-10) with 15 points.

"We executed well and got the shots that we wanted," Wolfpack coach Sidney Lowe said. "We made free throws, finally, down the stretch. We finished the ball game."

Scott's reverse layup with a 12:18 left increased the Hurricanes' lead to 48-39.

But N.C. State responded with a 9-2 run. Farnold Degand's basket with 9:13 remaining capped the run and reduced Miami's lead to 50-48.

"I just thought it was a great effort with the guys making plays when we had to, offensively and defensively," Lowe said. "We came down here and really fought."

N.C. STATE (16-13) — Wood 2-3 0-0 5, T.Smith 9-17 1-7 19, Horner 2-2 4-4 8, Gonzalez 4-9 9-12 19, Degand 1-2 3-4 5, Howell 1-4 1-1 3, Painter 0-1 0-0 0, Williams 3-5 1-3 7, Davis 1-2 0-0 2, Mays 1-2 0-0 3. Totals 24-47 19-31 71.

MIAMI (18-10) — Collins 5-6 5-7 15, Gamble 3-4 0-0 6, Scott 4-14 5-6 13, Dews 4-9 0-0 9, Adams 3-6 0-0 9, Grant 1-4 2-2 5, McGowan 0-0 0-0 0, Thomas 1-4 0-0 3, Johnson 3-4 0-1 6. Totals 24-51 12-16 66.

N.C. State 30 41 — 71
Miami 30 36 — 66

Percentages—N.C. State (FG .511, FT .613), Miami (FG .471, FT .750).
3-point goals—N.C. State 4-7 (Gonzalez 2-4, Mays 1-1, Wood 1-2), Miami 6-19 (Adams 3-6, Grant 1-2, Thomas 1-4, Dews 1-4, Scott 0-3).
Fouled out—Gamble, Horner.
Rebounds—N.C. State 29 (T.Smith 7), Miami 31 (Collins 7).
Assists—N.C. State 14 (Horner 5), Miami 12 (Scott 5).
Blocks—N.C. State 3 (Williams 2), Miami 2 (Scott, Collins).
Turnovers—N.C. State 10 (T.Smith 3), Miami 14 (Scott 4, Thomas 3, Gamble 3).
Steals—N.C. State 7 (T.Smith 2, Horner 2), Miami 5 (Scott 3).
Total fouls—N.C. State 15, Miami 23.
A—4,358.
Officials—Ray Natili, Sean Hull, Tim Nestor.