The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1519757
MAY/JUNE 2024 ■ 33 was fouled with two seconds to play in regulation. Weems made the first of his one-and- one, but the Wolfpack's only chance to tie the score was to miss the second shot and grab the rebound — which is exactly what happened. Monroe sneaked inside, grabbed the rebound and, without land- ing, made a 6-foot jumper as time ex- pired. The Wolfpack went on to win the game in four overtimes, the longest game be- tween ACC opponents to date. 6a PLAYER: Charles "Hawkeye" Whitney RESULT: NC State 63, UNC 50 DATE: Feb. 20, 1980 and 6b PLAYER: Thurl Bailey RESULT: NC State 70, UNC 63 DATE: Feb. 19,1983 This is really two shots in one, with NC State making similar plays against the same top-10 opponent three years apart. The first happened on Senior Day 1980. Whitney, an All-America forward, and teammate Clyde "The Glide" Austin re- hearsed a razzle-dazzle play in practice that they were able to use in a game. Seven minutes into the clash with the eighth- ranked Tar Heels, Austin got a halfcourt lead pass, took a stride toward the base- line and whipped the ball to a streaking Whitney for a dunk. The bucket accounted for just 2 of his 26 points that afternoon, but the memory was still vivid three years later, when, in a regular-season game against the third- ranked Tar Heels, Sidney Lowe mimicked the play in the final moments of an upset win at Reynolds Coliseum, bouncing the ball backward between his legs to Bailey. That win, the first ever by Jim Valvano over Dean Smith, was the unofficial start of the Wolfpack's 1983 championship run and a play that caused delirium in Reyn- olds Coliseum. 7 PLAYER: Al Green RESULT: NC State 68, UNC 67 DATE: Jan. 18, 1976 Only once has State won a game with a single free throw, no time on the clock and all but one player in the locker room. That happened on Super Bowl Sun- day 1976, when Green stood alone on the court at UNC's Carmichael Auditorium after being fouled by John Kuester as time expired with the score tied, 67-67. At the line for a one-and-one, with a sold-out crowd of 8,800 partisan fans frantically waving their arms in his face, Green easily made the first of his free throws and walked off the floor having secured a victory for the No. 13 Pack. It made up for the turnover he committed with 20 seconds to play that allowed the seventh-ranked Tar Heels to tie the score. Green, a 62.9 percent free throw shooter, never attempted the unneces- sary second one, ending the game with three points. 8 PLAYER: Clyde Austin RESULT: NC State 86, G'town 85 (OT) DATE: March 19, 1978 Four years removed from NC State's first national championship, Sloan and his revamped Wolfpack had a chance to win another title, albeit in the National Invitation Tournament. In front of 18,504 fans at Madison Square Garden in New York, the Wolf- pack was trailing by one point after Georgetown's Craig Shelton converted a three-point play with six seconds re- maining in overtime. During a timeout before Shelton's free throw, Sloan's strategy was the same regardless of the outcome of the shot: "Give it to Clyde and go." The sophomore point guard raced down the court with the intention of driving for a layup. Seeing all lanes to the basket closed, he pulled up three steps beyond the midcourt line and let loose a 35-footer to win the game. Two nights later, the Wolfpack lost to Texas in the NIT final, 101-93. 9 PLAYER: Paul Coder RESULT: NC State 85, UNC 84 DATE: Feb. 29, 1972 The Pack found itself trailing by four late in the game against the No. 3 Tar Heels. With 36 seconds to play, Coder scored an inside basket to draw State within two, 84-82. The Pack fouled guard George Karl with 20 seconds to play, and the front end of his one-and-one fell short. State's Steve Smoral found Coder under the basket with a pinpoint pass. Coder not only made the layup to tie the score, he was fouled on the play. After a timeout, Coder stepped to the line and made the biggest free throw of his career. 10 PLAYER: Dick Braucher RESULT: NC State 12, Duke 10 DATE: March 8, 1968 In a game that featured only 6 field goals, one of them had to be particu- larly memorable. That honor went to Braucher, a highly touted recruit from Kutztown, Pa., who made the decisive play in the most notorious game in ACC basketball history. Trailing 9-8 in the final minute of a 1968 ACC Tournament semifinal game in Charlotte against No. 6 Duke, Br- aucher stole a rebound away from Blue Devils All-American Mike Lewis on a missed free throw and scored on an easy jumper in the lane with 35 seconds to play. The teams traded single free throws in the final moments, but Braucher ended the scoring in the infamous slowdown game by hitting a foul shot with three seconds remaining. ■ Julius Hodge scored the final three points of the game to lift NC State over defending national champion Connecticut in the second round of the 2005 NCAA Tournament. PHOTO COURTESY NC STATE ATHLETICS Tim Peeler is a regular contributor to The Wolfpacker and can be reached at tmpeeler@ncsu.edu.