Wolfpack Shoots its Way to Saturday
The Wolfpack has done it again. For the second straight night the Pack defeated a better seeded team and moved on in the ACC tournament. Tonights opponent was the second seeded and regular season co-champion Virginia Cavilers. Early in the game the Wolfpack looked like a team who had played an overtime game the night before as Virginia jumped out to a 8-0 lead. The Pack battled back and took a 19-16 lead with an Engin Atsur three points. Virginia responded with a big run and built up a 14 point halftime lead at 40-26. However, the second half was a completely different story.
Early on the Pack trimmed the lead to single digits and the battle was on. The Pack used better defense and incredible shooting, 74%, to get back into the game. JR Reynolds and Sean Singletary were controlled, especially in the second half. The rebound was pretty even and the Pack was a very nice 13-15 from the foul line in the second half. For the Pack, Brandon Costner came up big again. Costner had 22 points and 6 rebounds. Gavin Grant was solid with 20 points and 4 rebounds. McCauley added 12 points and 6 rebounds. Engin Atsur was solid as usually with 10 points and 5 rebounds. Fells chipped in 9 points and 5 rebounds. Bryan Nieman came up big in his 21 minutes. With two big threes and a big charge call Nieman provided a necessary spark to the Pack.
With the win the Wolfpack moves to 17-14 on the season and earns a trip to the ACC semifinals on Saturday. The Pack will take on three seed Virginia Tech at 4:00. GO PACK!!!