North Carolina State 66, Davidson 65
RALEIGH, N.C. - Gavin Grant hit a pair of free throws with 3.9 seconds left, and Stephen Curry's 40-footer as the buzzer sounded rimmed out as NC State squeaked out a 66-65 victory over Davidson at the RBC Center Friday night.
On the Wildcats' previous trip down the floor, Curry nailed a 3-pointer from the wing with 42 seconds left to give Davidson (4-6) a 65-64 lead, its first since a 13-11 advantage 5:08 into the contest.
Grant's leaner in the lane on NC State's trip down the floor didn't go down, but the Wildcats could not dig out the rebound, giving the Wolfpack the ball with 19 seconds left. Ben McCauley tried a jump hook that rimmed out, but Grant got the loose-ball rebound and was fouled on a putback attempt to set up the game-winning free throws.
Trailing 64-60 after a Brandon Costner free throw following the last media timeout, Jason Richards fed Thomas Sander for a fast-break layup with 2:05 to play. Davidson got a defensive stop, but Curry missed a 17-foot jump shot, and NC State got the rebound. The Wildcats forced a turnover after a Wolfpack timeout to set up Curry's 3-pointer that gave Davidson lead.
The sophomore guard finished with a game-high 29 points after shooting 10-for-24 from the field and 7-for-15 from long distance. Richards tallied 14 points and six assists.
NC State's big men all reached double figures and accounted for 49 of the Wolfpack's points. Grant had 15, Costner had 13, McCauley netted 11 off the bench and J.J. Hickson added 10. The foursome combined to shoot 16-for-34 from the field and had 24 rebounds. They also held the Wildcats to four offensive rebounds for the game and none in the first half.
After the NC State bigs scored 21 of the Wolfpack's 30 points while shooting 7-for-13 from the floor in the first half, Davidson opted to mix up its usual man-to-man defense with a 3-2 zone in the second period, which allowed the 'Cats to stay within striking distance.
The Wolfpack had two leads of eight points early in the frame but could not add to the cushion. Bryant Barr's nine second-half points off the bench also kept the Wildcats close.
Trailing 13-11 in the first half, NC State stepped up the defense and did not allow a field goal for 6:24 while using an 11-2 run to open a 22-15 advantage midway through the first half.
The Wildcats returned the favor and held the Wolfpack without a field goal for the final 8:44 of the frame and trailed 30-26 at the break.
The Wildcats have an eight-day break before returning to the hard wood Jan. 3, when they host SoCon opponent Georgia Southern at 7 p.m. in John M. Belk Arena.
Game Notes: Curry reached the 20-point plateau for the 27th time in his career, which includes seven games this season... The Wolfpack was the third ACC team Davidson has played this season... NC State is 68-8 in non-conference games in the RBC Center.
Chattanooga 89, Asbury 63
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn.--- Chattanooga (7-4) treated its fans to a 89-63 win over visiting Asbury. The Eagles (9-5) entered the contest ranked No. 25 in the NAIA Division II poll.
Asbury kept it close for the first six minutes of the game, trailing 13-9 with 14:02. The Mocs went on a 15-2 run over the next four-plus minutes to take a 28-11 advantage. The lead swelled to 23 points at the break, 48-25.
It was more the same in the second half. Chattanooga’s lead reached its apex at 31 points (79-48) before settling for the 26-point cushion (89-63).
Nicchaeus Doaks led the Mocs with 17 points in 20 minutes of play. He added six rebounds, two assists and two steals. Stephen McDowell chipped in 12 points, while Verice Cloyd came off the bench with a career high of 11.
Brett Johnson led the Eagles with a game-high 22 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and three blocks. Asbury out-rebounded the Mocs 42-33.
Mocs Keyron Sheard finished with seven assists and four steals, all in the first half. The Chattanooga bench out-scored Asbury’s 48-9. The Mocs had just six turnovers and hit 14 three-pointers for the contest.
UTC is off until Dec. 29 when it hosts Murray State in the first round of the Dr Pepper Classic. Belmont and Wright State open the 18th year of the classic at 6 p.m.,
Utah Valley 71, Furman 66
Logan, Utah -- Utah Valley converted 14-of-14 free throws and shot 57.7% from the field in the second half to rally past Furman 71-66 in the consolation game of the 2007 Gossner Foods Holiday Classic Friday night at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum on the Utah State University campus.
Ryan Toolson tallied a game-high 26 points, including 19 after the break, as the Wolverines (5-8) erased Furman’s 30-23 halftime lead and outscored the Paladins 48-36 in the second half. The guard hit 3-of-6 shots from beyond the arc and sunk 9-of-10 free throw attempts to top the 20-point barrier for the ninth time this season.
Furman (0-10) led by as many as 12 in the first half, but the Wolverines converted 16-of-18 free throws on the night and made good on 48.1% (25-52 of their field goal attempts to hand the Paladins their fifth loss of the season after leading at the half.
Freshman Justin Dehm buried 5-of-9 three-point attempts and 5-of-6 attempts from the charity stripe to lead Furman with a career-high 22 points. Fellow freshman Noah States tallied 13 points while George Brozos accounted for 12 points and seven rebounds.
Furman shot 42.3% from the floor, making 11-of-26 attempts in each half, including draining 9-of-20 treys. Furman also rebounded from a 5-of-13 effort at the line on Thursday to convert 13-of-16 free throws versus Utah Valley.
Jordan Brady netted 14 points and Richard Troyer posted a double-double with 10 poiints and 10 rebounds to join Toolson in double figures. The Wolverines took a 35-27 edge on the boards and outscored Furman 24-14 in the paint.
Furman takes a seven-day break for the holidays before facing Cal State Fullerton in the opening game of the Shamrock Office Solutions Classic on December 28, at St. Mary’s College in Moraga, Calif.