Considering how some of the other ACC basketball teams have struggled in their exhibitions, N.C. State's 102-61 win against Flagler College on Monday was an unqualified success.

The Wolfpack, in coach Mark Gottfried's first game, showed a promising spark on offense, with a new up-tempo style - and the old shooting sensibility of Scott Wood (24 points) - in a relatively elementary dismissal of the Division II Saints.

"Overall it was a good night for us," Gottfried said.

By comparison, Maryland (winners by five), Boston College (by four) and Miami (by 10) labored in their warm-ups for the regular season, which starts Friday for the Wolfpack with a visit from UNC Asheville.

But Gottfried, whose offseason mantra has been "we've got a long way to go," with a program five years removed from its last NCAA tournament appearance, isn't interested in comparisons, even to teams in his own league, rather a standard he thinks is required to win.

And as many good things as Gottfried saw on Monday - a focused C.J. Leslie (16 points, five rebounds) and an improved C.J. Williams (10 points) among them - there were also red flags.

The Saints, with a smaller lineup, out-rebounded N.C. State 18 to 17 in the first half. The defensive intensity, understandably lax for a game that doesn't count, was below the level Gottfried eventually wants when the heart of the ACC schedule arrives in two months.

"Rebounding was an issue," Gottfried said. "More importantly, we weren't moving our feet nearly as well as I'd like, and we were allowing too much penetration."

The Wolfpack did have a 27-14 rebounding advantage in the second half and held the Saints to 24 points, after giving up 37 in the first half.

Wood, a junior guard, was in midseason form with six 3-pointers in the first half, as N.C. State built a 51-37 advantage. Wood chipped in two rare 2-pointers in the second half to finish with a game-high 24 points.

"We've tried to embrace the new style," Wood said. "It comes down to good decisions."

There were plenty of those. N.C. State finished with 24 assists (a game-high eight from Lorenzo Brown) on 37 field goals and made 56.9 percent of its shots (37-65).

Leslie, who came off the bench with Jordan Vandenberg starting instead, finished with 16 points and five rebounds. The gifted Leslie, who was inconsistent as a freshman, showed what he does best with two alley-oop dunks -- both from instant-energy guard Alex Johnson -- and showed some intensity in an individual duel with an unusually animated Ante Gospic. Leslie missed a dunk, too, in the second half, but he didn't hang his head.

Actually N.C. State missed three dunks but by the time Tyler Harris (10 points) flushed in the 99th and 100th point with 16 seconds left, the first game and first win was in the books.

"It was fun," Brown said.

NC STATE 102, FLAGLER 61

FLAGLER: Barnes 4-7 4-5 8, Smith 3-7 4-4 10, Gibson 0-3 0-0 0, July 6-13 0-0 12, Gospic 1-2 1-2 3, Hayes 0-1 0-0 0, Branco 2-6 3-4 7, Warner 1-2 0-0 2, Clark 5-11 0-0 12, Stokes 2-5 1-2 5. Totals 23-65 13-17 61.

NC STATE: Howell 2-3 3-4 7, Brown 1-2 2-4 4, Vandenberg 1-2 0-0 2, Wood 8-13 6-8 24, Williams 3-9 2-3 10, Painter 5-6 0-0 10, Johnson 3-5 0-0 6, Leslie 5-10 6-8 16, Raymond 1-2 2-2 4, de Thaey 4-7 0-0 8, Battle 0-1 1-2 1, Harris 4-5 1-4 10 Totals 37-65 19-28 102.

3-Point Goals-NC State 9-15 (Wood 6-8, Williams 2-3, Raymond 0-1, de Thaey 0-1, Battle 0-1, Harris 1-1). Flager 2-14 (Barnes 0-7, Gospic 0-1, Branco 0-1, Clark 2-5). Fouled Out-Flagler: Gospic,. Rebounds-NC State 44 (Howell 7), Flagler 32 (July 6). Assists-NC State 24 (Brown 8), Flagler 8 (Smith 3).

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