CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The Atlantic Coast Conference's chances of receiving more than three bids to the NCAA tournament were severely dashed yesterday when Robert O'Kelley and Wake Forest disintegrated right in front of 23,895 fans at the Charlotte Coliseum.
Wake Forest was easily the league's most marketable choice to join Duke, Maryland and North Carolina in the 64-team NCAA field until slow-starting N.C. State regrouped and thrashed the Demon Deacons, 66-52, in the quarterfinals of the ACC tournament.
The fifth-seeded Wolfpack (18-12) advances to today's 1: 30 p.m. semifinal against top-ranked Duke.
Wake Forest was the fourth seed in the tournament with a 7-9 conference record and had an 85-72 victory over Maryland.
A victory over the Wolfpack yesterday just might have put the Deacons over the top.
But it never happened, even though Wake Forest bolted to a 21-7 lead a little more than halfway through the first half.
And there was just no way to soft-pedal the primary reason for the demise of the Deacons (16-13).
The team's leading scorer, O'Kelley, was terrible yesterday. The 6-foot-1 sophomore guard not only was held to a season low of five points (2-for-10), but he tied an ACC record for the most turnovers in a game with 11.
O'Kelley kicked and fumbled the ball around the court, tying the unenviable record shared by former Maryland standout Walt Williams (1992) and Georgia Tech's Dave Kowalski (1981).
O'Kelley was averaging 17.4 points entering the game and was the same player who lit up Maryland for 32 points in Winston-Salem on Super Sunday.
Also, O'Kelley had averaged just a little more than two turnovers a game.
"I've never had 11 turnovers in my life," O'Kelley said. "Things just didn't work out for me."
O'Kelley could have used a slightly sprained knee he suffered with 11 minutes left in the game as an excuse but he refused. "I put myself out there to play with the knee and was expected to produce," he said.
For N.C. State, the first 10 minutes looked disastrous as the Wolfpack could not penetrate Wake Forest's zone defense and didn't score a field goal for nearly eight minutes.
N.C. State never did look like world beaters in the game, shooting just 34.4 percent from the field.
But junior point guard Justin Gainey and freshman forward Anthony Grundy led the Wolfpack back, combining for 29 points and five steals.
If the ACC does receive just three NCAA tournament bids, it will be the fewest for the conference since 1979, when two teams were invited.
N.C. STATE -- Thornton 4-5 0-1 8, Grundy 5-16 2-5 14, Inge 2-6 4-7 9, Gainey 4-13 6-6 15, Harrington 2-12 1-1 6, Kelley 3-6 1-2 7, Wells 1-3 5-6 7, Bean 0-0 0-0 0, Williams 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-61 19-28 66.
WAKE FOREST -- Dawson 1-5 0-0 2, Shoemaker 4-5 4-7 12, Vidaurreta 5-12 5-7 15, Amonett 3-5 0-0 8, O'Kelley 2-10 0-1 5, Songaila 2-6 2-2 6, Hicks 1-2 0-0 3, Murray 0-1 1-2 1, Scott 0-0 0-0 0, Fitzpatrick 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-46 12-19 52.
Halftime--Tied 27-27. 3-point goals--NCS 5-25 (Grundy 2-7, Inge 1-2, Gainey 1-5, Harrington 1-9, Wells 0-1), WF 4-14 (Dawson 0-3, Amonett 2-3, O'Kelley 1-6, Hicks 1-1, Murray 0-1). Fouled out--O'Kelley, Songaila. Rebounds--NCS 43 (Thornton 11), WF 35 (Vidaurreta 12). Assists--NCS 8 (Wells, Gainey 3), WF 9 (Vidaurreta, O'Kelley, Murray 2). Total fouls--NCS 20, WF 25. A--23,895.
Pub Date: 3/06/99