NC State 60, Boise State 54: Trevor Lacey's late heroics help the Wolfpack avoid upset

Box Score

NC State followed up its fine offensive performance on Wednesday night with a clanker against Boise State on Friday, but it doesn't always have to be pretty to work. Trevor Lacey provided a couple of key baskets late for the Wolfpack, which held on for a 60-54 victory.

The Pack took a 10-point advantage into halftime and extended it to 14 points in the first five minutes of the second half before Boise State began to slowly--very, very slowly--put a dent in to the margin. It was a rally played out over about 14 minutes, leading to a Mikey Thompson layup with 1:05 remaining that cut State's lead to 55-54.

That's where Lacey stepped in, quickly extending the lead back to three with a layup and then, after a Boise turnover, he hit a tough 19-footer to put NC State up five with about 30 seconds remaining. Lacey created that bucket out of nothing and it was a dagger.

Lacey and the rest of NC State's guards got the better of the Broncos' backcourt trio, which combined to shoot 8-of-33 from the field, including 2-of-15 shooting from three-point range. Derrick Marks was the worst of that bunch at 3-of-13 overall, but Anthony Drmic was right behind him with a 3-of-12 effort. Brutal.

Lacey, Cat Barber, and Ralston Turner combined to shoot 12-of-26, including 5-of-10 from deep. Big big difference in scoring efficiency there and an important advantage since those guys didn't get much help from the rest of the team.

We had tense moments in the last six days, but getting out of this week unscathed is big--just how big, we won't know for a while. What we do know is that State has picked up some wins over teams that could contend in their respective leagues, and in any case these are not the sorts of opponents that are going to serve as anchors to the good ol' RPI.

Now the Pack has a great chance to get ahead from a schedule/résumé perspective with its first road trip on the way. Yes, it's still November and I'm talkin' about résumés. No, I swear I'm not trying to jinx anything.