This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Boston • Scott Wood atoned for a scoreless first half with 12 points in the second, hitting two 3-pointers and six free throws down the stretch as No. 23 North Carolina State held off Boston College 78-73 on Saturday in the Atlantic Coast Conference opener for both teams.
The Wolfpack (12-2, 1-0) won their ninth straight, their longest streak since 1983-84, but only after giving the Eagles several opportunities to pull off an upset.
Rodney Purvis scored 19 points, Richard Howell finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds and Lorenzo Brown had 14 points and eight assists for the Wolfpack.
Boston College (8-6, 0-1) missed a chance to tie when Purvis fouled Patrick Heckman on a 3-point attempt with 18.9 seconds left. Heckman, a 93 percent shooter from the line coming in, made 2 of 3, and the Eagles were forced to foul Wood two more times.
Wood made four more free throws to seal it.
Ryan Anderson had 22 points and 13 rebounds for Boston College, which had won five straight.
The Eagles led by as many as six points midway through the second half, but the Wolfpack came through with a late rally and overcame their own mistakes to win their fifth straight over the Eagles.
And there were plenty of mistakes.
The teams combined for 44 fouls and took 36 free throws in the second half alone. In the end, the Eagles faltered more from the line than the Wolfpack.
The back-and-forth fouling continued throughout the second half as did the streaky foul shooting. —