Pack goes cold as Noles surge

Freshman Julius Mays gives N.C. State a much-needed spark at point guard, but he can't keep freshman-led Florida State from scoring 19 of the final 21 points

RALEIGH -- N.C. State aspires to be where North Carolina is in the ACC basketball hierarchy.

After Tuesday's 78-65 loss to Florida State, the Wolfpack is right next to the Tar Heels at 0-2 in the league standings.

The Wolfpack, sporting an unusual second-half lineup, watched a tight game turn into a 13-point home loss in the final minutes as FSU freshmen Deividas Dulkys and Solomon Alabi combined for 10 points to lead a winning 19-2 run.

The unlikely trio of Julius Mays, C.J. Williams and Johnny Thomas -- all freshmen -- put the Wolfpack in position to win its first ACC game in 11 tries. Mays and Thomas combined to score 11 points in a four-minute span to put N.C. State up 63-59 with six minutes left.

With the scored tied at 63 with 5:09 left, N.C. State's chance at a 1-1 ACC record went south when usual stars Brandon Costner and Ben McCauley re-entered the game.

"We were looking for our veteran guys to come in and finish the game," Pack coach Sidney Lowe said. "Didn't happen."

A basket by Alabi, who is from Nigeria, made the score 65-63. Then, Dulkys, from Lithuania, seized the moment with six straight points. His putback after a block by Costner on a breakaway layup by Toney Douglas (game-high 21 points) made it 67-63. His free throws at 1:45 pushed FSU's lead to 71-63.

Sandwiched in between on N.C. State's possessions were a missed shot each by McCauley and Costner and a turnover by McCauley.

"There's certain guys we need to play well to win," Lowe said without mentioning his leading scorers by name. "We need to get that, we didn't have that tonight."

What the Pack did have was energy and life from seldom-used Thomas and Williams. Thomas missed the 2007-08 season with a knee injury and missed seven of the first 13 games this season.

His hustle netted him five points and two rebounds in 12 minutes in the second half. Williams added eight points, hitting both of his 3-point shots (the rest of the team was 2-of-15).

Neither played a minute in the ACC opener on Saturday at Clemson.

"It wasn't expected," Mays said of the new lineup, "but now I know to expect the unexpected."

Mays, Thomas, Williams and Dennis Horner each played more minutes than Costner (16), who leads the team with an average of 14.4 points per game.

Costner scored seven of his 10 points in the first half. He wasn't the only starter watching in the second half, either. Guards Trevor Ferguson and Farnold Degand did not play a minute in the second half. Ferguson because of his lingering hand injury, Lowe said, but Degand because his effort didn't match that of the freshman trio.

Lowe made it sound like it wasn't a one-time act for his unusual lineup.

"Those are the guys we're going to have count on now and down the road," Lowe said. "They played very well for us, in a tight ball game."

Despite allowing FSU to go off on a 22-4 run in the first half, State trailed by 35-32 at the break.

Mays, playing the point, was able to create points off the dribble and hit mid-range jumpers over Douglas, a senior and one of the best defenders in the ACC. Three of his five field goals came on pull-up jumpers.

Courtney Fells, the one starter who finished, supported Mays with 12 points, most of which he created in transition.

Neither could find points when N.C. State (9-5) needed them most.

Dulkys scrapped for six of his nine points off the bench and Alabi, a starter, put in 12 as the emerging Seminoles (14-3, 1-1) proved to have too much closing power for the Pack's youth.

FLORIDA STATE 78, N.C. STATE 65

FGFTReb

Florida St.MinM-AM-AO-TAPFPTS

Kitchen293-83-40-4319

Douglas358-155-60-22321

Singleton222-60-02-2044

Alabi216-70-02-40212

Echefu273-76-62-111312

Gibson71-10-00-0002

DeMercy141-30-11-3122

Loucks131-11-21-1124

Dulkys213-52-21-4009

Reid111-21-20-0223

Team2-4

Totals20029-5518-2311-35101978

Three-point goals: 2-13, .154 (Loucks 1-1, Dulkys 1-3, Singleton 0-2, Echefu 0-2, DeMercy 0-2, Douglas 0-3). Team rebounds: 4. Blocked shots: 3 (Alabi 2, Douglas). Turnovers: 12 (Reid 4, Douglas 2, Kitchen 2, Singleton, DeMercy, Alabi, Echefu). Steals: 12 (Singleton 3, Douglas 2, DeMercy 2, Dulkys 2, Gibson, Echefu, Reid). Technical fouls: none.

FGFTReb

N.C. StateMinM-AM-AO-TAPFPTS

Fells345-151-10-41212

Degand110-10-00-2100

Ferguson110-30-00-3110

Costner163-83-62-20210

McCauley242-51-24-4245

Gonzalez30-00-00-0110

Williams173-50-01-3028

TSmith163-30-01-1006

Mays265-83-50-00313

Thomas182-21-22-2025

Horner240-36-60-2236

1-5

Totals20023-5315-2211-2882065

Three-point goals: 4-17, .235 (Williams 2-2, Costner 1-4, Fells 1-7, Mays 0-2, Horner 0-2). Team rebounds: 5. Blocked shots: 4 (Costner, Thomas, T.Smith, Fells). Turnovers: 16 (Fells 3, Mays 3, McCauley 2, Gonzalez 2, Costner 2, Williams, Thomas, Degand, Ferguson). Steals: 4 (Fells 2, Williams, Costner). Technical fouls: None.

Florida State3543--78

N.C. State3233--65

A--17,173. Officials--Bryan Kersey, Rogers Ayers, Ray Natili.

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