RALEIGH, N.C. _ UNC Greensboro guard Isaiah Miller, standing at 6 feet, went backdoor and started to climb the ladder.
When Miller grabbed the ball, well above the rim, and threw it down, it gave the Spartans a 60-45 lead. There were still just over nine minutes remaining in the game, but that might as well have been the nail in the coffin. Miller's slam was the highlight of a second half dominated by UNC Greensboro, as the Spartans pulled off the upset over N.C. State, 81-76, on Saturday at PNC Arena.
UNCG led by nine points with less than 20 seconds remaining in the game, but State cut it to three after a scoring flurry, capped off by three free throws from Allerik Freeman. Spartans guard Marvin Smith missed a pair of freebies on the other end, and the Wolfpack rebounded the second miss with a chance to tie. Freeman, however, dribbled right into a double team and turned the ball over, one of nine turnovers for the Wolfpack.
"We knew they were a good basketball team and give them a lot of credit for coming in here and getting a win today," N.C. State head coach Kevin Keatts said.
The Wolfpack (8-3) never looked comfortable, even though it had a double-digit lead in the first half. But the Spartans made themselves at home in Raleigh, shooting 52 percent from the field, including a smoking-hot 57 percent in the second half. At one point in the second half, the Spartans (7-4) were shooting 78 percent from the floor.
N.C. State pulled to within seven, 69-62, after a 3-point shot from Braxton Beverly with 2:55 remaining. But Spartans big man Jordy Kuiper knocked down a wide-open 3 from the top of the key to push the lead back to 10 with 2:22 remaining.
"We played great (in the first half)," Keatts said. "Then they made a run. In the second half it was more of what happened in the later part of the first half. We've been a team that's been able to make some great adjustments at halftime, and it's worked, but for whatever reason we didn't have it today."
UNC Greensboro started the second half on fire, and with tons of confidence, going on a 13-2 run to take a 51-42 lead, forcing Keatts to take a timeout. Out of the timeout, Omer Yurtseven missed a short jumper, and UNC Greensboro answered with another 3, this time from Raleigh native Demetrius Troy, giving the visitors a 54-42 lead.
Back-to-back layups from Freeman before the half gave N.C. State a narrow 40-38 lead. The Wolfpack at one point had a 14-point lead, 29-15, at the 9:22 mark, but the Spartans caught fire from the field.
UNC Greensboro used a 15-1 run to take a one-point lead, 35-34, late in the first half. Spartans reserve guard Garrett Collins, who came into the game averaging 1.5 points per game, knocked down a pair of triples to get UNCG going. Starting guard Francis Alonso poured in eight first-half points, going 2 for 3 from 3-point range.
The Spartans also dominated the offensive glass, collecting six offensive rebounds in the first half for 10 second-chance points.
The Freemans _ Lennard and Allerik _ scored 10 each to pace the Wolfpack in the first half, but the balanced effort from the Spartans _ eight players scored _ kept them in the game, despite the early deficit. Trailing by 12, the Spartans had a stretch where they got a 3 from Kuiper and consecutive 3s from Smith and Collins.
UNC Greensboro came into the contest 2-59 against the ACC, its only two wins coming against Virginia Tech (2013) and Georgia Tech (2007). The Wolfpack was 10-0 all-time against the Spartans before Saturday's upset.
