North Carolina State and Wake Forest spent the entire second half battling back and forth, with neither team grabbing the game by the horns and taking control.
Then in the final three minutes the Wolfpack took over. N.C. State forced consecutive turnovers, and hit enough timely shots to defeat Wake Forest 72-63, closing the game on an 11-0 run.
The game was tied three times in the last seven minutes and Wolfpack forward Torin Dorn knotted things up at 63 with 2:13 remaining. The Demon Deacons then made what turned out to be their first fatal mistake.