NC State Can't Finish Cinderella Run

GREENSBORO, N.C. -- North Carolina State's magical run in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament has ended. Call it bad luck or a missed opportunity.

Either way, give Georgia Tech credit for being the first of three tourney opponents to solve the gritty, scraggly Wolfpack.

The seventh-seeded Yellow Jackets upended the eleventh-seeded Wolfpack 57-54 in Saturday's semifinal showdown here at the ACC Tournament.

Georgia Tech (22-11), poised to play its fourth game in four days, advances to Sunday's championship against Duke at the Greensboro Coliseum. The two teams split their season series, each winning at home.

Two days ago, Clemson had too much size and savvy for N.C. State. On Friday, Florida State had too much size and speed for the Wolfpack. Up next, Georgia Tech had too much size and strength.

Yet, the Yellow Jackets needed every ounce of resolve to shake N.C. State, which rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit and missed a game-tying three with six seconds remaining from guard Javier Gonzalez near the top of the arc.

The Wolfpack (19-13) last led at 46-44 with 4:17 remaining in the game.

"We certainly had the opportunity but we just couldn't finish it off," N.C. State coach Sidney Lowe said. "They made some plays, they're a good team. I am proud of the way these guys hung in there."

GAME BALL GOES TO:
Tech's inside duo of Derrick Favors and Gani Lawal.

The duo combined for 29 points and 18 rebounds to help the Yellow Jackets hold an advantage inside. The Wolfpack couldn't find a clean lane or buy and easy bucket. Tech out-rebounded N.C. State 42-36.

HEART GOES OUT TO:
Wolfpack guard Javier Gonzalez.

With N.C. State trailing 49-46 in the closing minutes, Gonzalez attempted a behind-the-back dribble and the ball bounced off the back of his foot near midcourt.

Tech's Iman Shumpert, who blocked/deflected Maryland guard Greivis Vasquez's potential game-tying trey in the closing seconds on Friday, gathered the ball and was headed the other way with teammate Derrick Favors.

Gonzalez pulled Favors around and down by his shirt tail, and it nearly sparked a fight. Both teams went to their respective benches and then received a quick lecture from the referees near midcourt.

The foul led to three points. It was an unfortunate decision by a player who helped direct the Wolfpack's resurgence in the tourney.

"I used the ball screen and I got hit a little bit on the arm and lost control of the ball," Gonzalez explained.

"I saw it was Favors and he's shooting like 50 percent (from the free throw line). The only thing I was able to do was grab his jersey. It was an intentional foul but it didn't hurt us that bad."

KEY ELEMENT:
Tech won this game with its size on the defensive end, using its tall guards to limit the Wolfpack's three-point shooters.

N.C. State made just 6 of 26 treys. Guard Scott Wood, the hero in Friday's victory over FSU with six treys, made just 2 of 5. He wasn't even on the court during the Wolfpack's last possession.

WHERE TO FROM HERE
N.C. State expects an invite from the NIT. The Wolfpack won five of their final seven games, thanks in large part to a better shooting eye.

Before that streak, N.C. State had lost seven straight ACC games, and its shooting performances in the second halves of those games were a major factor to the outcome. During its losing streak, the Wolfpack hit just 30.7 percent (67 of 218) of its second-half shots.

N.C. State's returned to that form against Georgia Tech, shooting 31 percent (10 of 32) in the second half and just 30.6 percent (19 of 62) in the game.

WHO'S GOT NEXT
Georgia Tech advances to its first ACC Tournament title game since 2005 when it meets Duke on Sunday.

SOUNDBITE:
"Honestly, I knew it was going to be a dogfight but I didn't think it was going to come down to that. I figured because of our front court and Gani [Lawal] and [Derrick] Favors that we would have won comfortable, but as you can see." -- Tech guard D'Andre Bell.