Maryland Athletics - University of Maryland Official Athletic Site - Events
Mar. 8, 1997
NC State Upsets No. 22 Maryland in ACC Semifinals
GREENSBORO, N.C. - Clint Harrison scored 17 of his 24 points in the second half as North Carolina State continued its surprising run in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament with a 65-58 upset of 22nd-ranked Maryland in the semifinals at Greensboro, North Carolina.
North Carolina State became the first eighth seed in the history of the ACC Tournament to reach the championship game. The Wolfpack are trying to become the first team to win four ACC Tournament games in four days since Clemson accomplished the feat in 1939.
Danny Strong added 15 for the Wolfpack (16-13), who await the winner of the North Carolina-Wake Forest game in the championship game on Sunday. North Carolina State, which was the eighth seed in the ACC Tournament, has defeated Georgia Tech and top-seeded Duke in the first two rounds.
"I think what we've got is a group of guys who are very focused, very together and are playing very hard," said North Carolina State coach Herb Sendek. "This is a real special group. They are unconditionally unselfish. They work hard every day and leave their egos at the door."
Keith Booth scored 20 points and Laron Profit added 11 for Maryland (21-10), which lost eight of its last 12 games after a 17-2 start. The Terps had posted victories of nine and 11 points over North Carolina State in the regular season.
"We shot 50 percent from the field, but turned the ball over 21 times," said Terrapins coach Gary Williams. "We didn't get enough shots. Our pressure wasn't good enough to wear them down like I thought it might. I don't think we played as well as we could, but once again, you've got to look at N.C. State and how they affected us. There's no excuses, they just beat us."
Profit gave Maryland a 27-20 lead on a dunk 1:45 into the second half before Harrison keyed an 18-4 Wolfpack tear. Strong started the run with a three-pointer and Justin Gainey added a layup to make it 27-25 with 16:42 to play. Harrison then gave North Carolina State a 28-27 lead with a three-point play and added a free throw with 15:49 left.
Obinna Ekezie tied the game with a layup, but Harrison buried a three-pointer from the top of the key. Matt Kovarik had a layup for the Terps before Harrison had two layups around a jumper by Jeremy Hyatt to give the Wolfpack a 38-31 lead with 11:54 to play.
"Anyone who attempts to look at our teams and put individuals under microscope misses the story," added Sendek. "Different individuals have played their roles well, but our strength is how we complement each other."
Maryland pulled within 45-42 on a layup by Rodney Elliott, who was fouled on the play with 6:35 left. He missed the free throw for the three-point play and Ishua Benjamin answered with a three-point play of his own to give North Carolina State a 48-42 advantage 28 seconds later.
Kovarik knocked down a three-pointer to make it 61-58 with 18.4 seconds to play, but Harrison hit two free throws 4.1 seconds later and Gainey iced the game with two foul shots with 4.8 seconds to play.
North Carolina State, which has received two of 131 points from its bench the last two games, shot 48 percent (22-of-46) from the field and overcame a 32-20 rebounding deficit. The Wolfpack made 6-of-14 three-point shots and Hyatt finished with 10 points.
NO CAROLINA ST (65)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Strong 33 5-10 2-3 0-2 2 3 15
Hyatt 40 4-6 2-4 1-3 3 2 10
Benjamin 37 2-7 1-1 1-3 5 5 5
Gainey 40 2-5 4-6 1-3 1 3 9
Harrison 40 9-18 4-5 3-8 1 3 24
Buffum 10 0-0 2-2 0-0 0 2 2
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TOTALS 200 22-46 15-21 6-19 12 18 65
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Percentages: FG-.478, FT-.714. 3-Point Goals:
6-14, .429 (Strong 3-5, Hyatt 0-1, Benjamin 0-3,
Gainey 1-2, Harrison 2-3). Team rebounds: 1.
Blocked shots: None. Turnovers: 13 (Gainey 4,
Harrison 2, Hyatt 2, Benjamin, Buffum, Strong).
Steals: 10 (Harrison 4, Hyatt 3, Benjamin 2,
Gainey).
MARYLAND (58)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Profit 34 4-6 2-4 2-8 4 2 11
Booth 37 8-12 6-7 3-5 3 1 22
Ekezie 29 5-6 2-3 2-7 2 2 12
Stokes 34 1-2 1-2 0-2 3 5 3
Jasikevicius 25 0-8 1-2 2-4 1 3 1
Kovarik 14 2-3 0-0 1-1 0 5 4
Elliott 26 2-6 0-1 1-2 0 3 5
Raydo 1 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
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TOTALS 200 22-44 12-19 11-29 13 21 58
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Percentages: FG-.500, FT-.632. 3-Point Goals:
2-8, .250 (Profit 1-1, Jasikevicius 0-4, Kovarik
0-1, Elliott 1-1, Raydo 0-1). Team rebounds: 3.
Blocked shots: 4 (Ekezie 3, Elliott). Turnovers:
21 (Stokes 5, Ekezie 4, Jasikevicius 4, Profit 4,
Booth 2, Kovarik 2). Steals: 6 (Booth, Ekezie,
Elliott, Jasikevicius, Kovarik, Profit).
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No Carolina St 20 45 - 65
Maryland 25 33 - 58
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Technical fouls: None. A: 23,250. Officials:
Frank Scagliotta, Mike Wood, Larry Rose.
