CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. (AP) — N.C. State still too talented even when Boston College made them play at a different pace.
Scott Wood scored 16 points and C.J. Leslie 13 to lift N.C. State to a 56-51 win over Boston College on Wednesday night.
C.J. Williams and Richard Howell each scored 10 points for the Wolfpack (16-7, 5-3 ACC). N.C. State has won 10 of its last 13. Howell also grabbed eight boards.
Playing after losses to North Carolina and Virginia, it was a perfect time for the Wolfpack to face the Eagles — a team they handled easily earlier this season.
"It's a good win. Any time you win on the road is good. We know that," N.C. State coach Mark Gottfried said. "I thought we didn't play particularly great. I thought early we missed a lot of layups, missed a lot of shots around the basket.
"They were much better tonight than they were in the RBC Center, but we anticipated that," Gottfried added. "I thought they would be a lot better — young players playing at home — but what I liked is that even on a night when we struggled to score we still found a way to win."
Boston College coach Steve Donahue elected to have his team hold the ball as much as possible on nearly every possession after what happened in the first meeting, a 14-point loss on Jan. 20.
"That was my thought coming into it, we just couldn't get into an up-and-down game with this team," he said. "I don't like to play that way and we're not going to play that way, but for us to win, I've got to teach them how to compete."
Matt Humphrey led Boston College (7-15, 2-6) with 15 points. The Eagles lost their fifth straight.
Wood also hit 5 of 5 free throws and has made 63 straight dating back to last season, extending his school record.
"If I miss one, I miss one," he said. "I'm bound to miss one eventually. That's the way I'm pretty much looking at it."
Leslie broke a 44-all tie with a jumper from the top of the key and then hit two free throws, pushing the Wolfpack ahead by four with 3:57 left. They had a chance to go up by six, but Howell missed a breakaway layup after stealing the ball.
Howell made up for it about a minute later when he scored on a baseline drive, making it 50-46 with 2:07 to go. He did miss the free throw after he was fouled on the play. That came right in the middle of a 10-2 run over a 4:18 stretch as the Wolfpack pulled away for the victory.
"We just got fortunate there at the end to execute a little bit better than they did," Wood said. "We knew that they didn't play very well in Raleigh, so we knew that they would definitely bring their 'A' game and I think they did tonight."
Wood hit four free throw attempts in the final 1:38 to seal it.
N.C. State beat BC 76-62 in Raleigh, N.C. The Wolfpack opened a 45-28 halftime edge in that game and coasted in the second half.
"I was pleased with a lot of what we did tonight," Donahue said. "This is the first time we've had a chance to play a team again that we played already and they handled us pretty good down there."
But on Wednesday, the Eagles had just two baskets in the final 5:17, both coming after they were down eight points in the final minute.
N.C. State led 25-23 at the half, but BC grabbed the lead on Lonnie Jackson's four-point play when he nailed a 3 on the right wing and hit the free throw. It was the Eagles' first lead since 3 1/2 minutes into the game.
The lead then switched hands five times over the next 13 1/2 minutes. Neither team held more than a four-point advantage before Ryan Anderson banked in a one-hander from the lane to push N.C. State back in front, 42-41, with 6:22 to play. Wood had just given the Wolfpack the lead 35 seconds earlier with his third 3-pointer of the game, this one coming from the right corner.
The Eagles slowed the ball down and used nearly the entire shot clock on most of their possessions. At times, Donahue was visibly upset even when his players took wide-open jumpers.
"This is just such a physical team and they play at such a pace," he said. "It's hard to match their physicality. I thought the kids did a good job at it."
In the first half, N.C. State had a six-point lead twice, but the Eagles scored six straight to tie the game at 19 on Anderson's short flip in the lane. N.C. State then scored six of the next eight points en route to its halftime edge.
It was the Wolfpack's lowest first-half scoring total of the season and matched BC's fewest points, done three other times.
BC forward Patrick Heckmann missed his second straight game due to an illness, but was on the bench for this one.
N.C. STATE (16-7, 5-3)
Howell 4-7 2-3 10, Leslie 5-12 3-4 13, Wood 4-9 5-5 16, Brown 1-5 3-4 5, Williams 4-7 0-1 10, Painter 1-2 0-0 2, A. Johnson 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 19-45 13-17 56.
BOSTON COLLEGE (7-15, 2-6)
Anderson 3-8 2-2 8, Clifford 3-7 0-0 6, Daniels 2-6 0-0 4, Humphrey 6-14 0-2 15, Jackson 2-6 5-6 10, Moton 2-5 1-3 6, Odio 0-0 0-0 0, Caudill 1-2 0-0 2, Cahill 0-1 0-0 0, Rubin 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-49 8-13 51.
Halftime—N.C. State 25-23.
Percentages—N.C. State (FG .422, FT .765), Boston College (FG .388, FT .615).
3-point goals—N.C. State 5-17 (Wood 3-7, Williams 2-3, A. Johnson 0-3, Brown 0-4), Boston College 5-17 (Humphrey 3-8, Moton 1-2, Jackson 1-5, Anderson 0-1, Daniels 0-1).
Fouled out—Jackson.
Rebounds—N.C. State 28 (Howell 8), Boston College 30 (Anderson, Clifford 8).
Team rebounds—N.C. State 1, Boston College 1.
Assists—N.C. State 15 (Brown 7), Boston College 7 (Daniels 3).
Blocks—N.C. State 2 (Wood, Brown), Boston College 3 (Caudill, Clifford, Anderson).
Turnovers—N.C. State 11 (Brown 5), Boston College (5 players with 2 each)
Steals—N.C. State 8 (Wood 3), Boston College 7 (Jackson 2, Humphrey 2).
Total fouls—N.C. State 10, Boston College 15.
A—3,611.
Officials—Bernard Clinton, Tony Greene, Tim Kelly.
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