N.C. State Among ACC Elite
Published: Mar 10, 2007
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TAMPA - North Carolina State coach Sidney Lowe - of all people - should know anything can happen in college basketball's postseason.
It's happening again for the Wolfpack.
No. 10 N.C. State, which finished one game out of last place during the regular season, became the first double-digit seeded team to reach the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament semifinals with a 79-71 upset of No. 2 Virginia on Friday night at the St. Pete Times Forum.
In 1983, Lowe was the senior point guard on an N.C. State team that defied odds and won an improbable national title for Coach Jim Valvano.
If N.C. State (17-14) defeats No. 3 Virginia Tech (21-10) today, the Wolfpack will be within one victory of an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Virginia led 40-26 at halftime, but N.C. State gathered itself and mounted the second-largest comeback from a halftime deficit in ACC Tournament history.
"These games are not played on paper," Cavaliers coach Dave Leitao said. "They're not played with records. They're played with competitiveness. We stopped competing. As a result, they put it to us."
Virginia Tech ended the upset hopes of No. 11 Wake Forest, 71-52, in Friday night's late game.
"We are here to win this tournament," Wolfpack junior Gavin Grant said. "We didn't come here because we had to be in this tournament. We beat [North] Carolina this year, we beat Virginia Tech twice, and those are two teams that were at the top of the league."
Today's first semifinal has unfolded as expected - No. 1 North Carolina (26-6) will face No. 4 Boston College (20-10) at 1:30 p.m.
Last season, BC eliminated North Carolina 85-82 in the ACC semifinals.
North Carolina is playing for its first ACC Tournament title since 1998 - and likely a No. 1 seed in the NCAA field - but the Eagles represent a formidable obstacle.
"We're glad to be able to stay here another day and play," UNC coach Roy Williams said. "There's no question in my mind I'd like to win it [ACC Tournament]. But to get a shot at it, we've got to get past the next one."
