Howard clutch in final seconds for Wake Forest

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- Talk about proving the critics wrong.

Josh Howard scored 27 points, including six free throws in the final 1.7 seconds, as No. 9 Wake Forest held off North Carolina State 78-72 Saturday to win its first outright Atlantic Coast Conference title since 1962.

The Demon Deacons (23-4, 13-3) were picked to finish sixth in the ACC in the preseason, but ended up setting a school record for league wins, closing out conference play winning 11 of 12.

"It was motivation,'' Howard said of the preseason poll. "How could people say that about us? I still have it above my door so I see it every time I come into my room. I'm going to keep it up there until we lose again. Hopefully, we won't.'' Howard helped carry coach Skip Prosser into the locker room showers after the win. Prosser improved to 44-17 in his two seasons in Winston-Salem since coming from Xavier.

"We talked a lot at halftime that no matter what happened we were not going to go down with the bat on our shoulders,'' Prosser said. "We were going to go down cutting. In the second half we were in there swinging and being an aggressive basketball team.''

Howard was clutch once again, going 8-for-10 from the field and 8-of-8 from the free-throw line for his 15th game of 20 or more points.

"He's just our Superman,'' point guard Taron Downey said. "I can't even say anything else about him. He's shown it time after time. I hope he doesn't stop now because we've got the ACC tournament and the NCAAs.''

"You can see why he's a national player of the year candidate,'' Wolfpack coach Herb Sendek said of Howard. "We really didn't have an adequate response for him today. He did today what he's done all season for Wake Forest.''

Howard's tie-breaking free throws didn't come without controversy as he grabbed a missed shot by Justin Gray and went back up as the shot clock buzzer went off.

However, after reviewing television replays, official Larry Rose ruled that the foul by Clifford Crawford came before the shot clock expired and awarded Howard the free throws over the protests of N.C. State.

Howard calmly went to the foul line and made both free throws. He then intercepted N.C. State's inbounds pass and was fouled again. The senior made two free throws after a technical foul was called and added two more to end the game and secure Wake Forest's No. 1 seed in next week's ACC tournament.

"I doubt it,'' Howard said when asked if he would have made the free throws two seasons ago. "They probably would have gone wide left and wide right. I've grown as a person and as a leader.''

Marcus Melvin and Julius Hodge each had 17 points for the Wolfpack (16-11, 9-7).

The loss was the second straight at home for N.C. State against a ranked opponent in the final seconds, hurting its NCAA chances. Maryland beat the Wolfpack last weekend 68-65 when Drew Nicholas hit a long 3-pointer with 1.5 seconds left.

"They are both difficult losses,'' Sendek said. "Both games our men invested a great deal physically, mentally and emotionally and came up short against two outstanding basketball teams. The most difficult one is the one happening now.''

N.C. State's 11-point halftime lead evaporated in six minutes as Vytas Danelius, who had 15 points, and Howard hit 3-pointers and Gray made four straight baskets during a 25-8 run that gave the Demon Deacons a 52-46 lead.

Wake Forest, which struggled from beyond the arc in the opening 20 minutes, began 9-of-10 from the field, including 6-of-7 from long range, and finished the half shooting 65.4 percent.

"We needed a spark,'' Prosser said of Gray's shooting streak. "That really gave our guys a shot of adrenaline.''

The Wolfpack failed to give up at home, taking two three-point leads down the stretch before a free throw by Danelius with 1:07 left tied it at 72.

N.C. State failed to convert on its next possession as Scooter Sherrill missed a bank shot and Howard grabbed the key rebound, one of eight for him on the day, setting up the final Wake Forest possession.

The Wolfpack led 38-27 at halftime, but Wake Forest was able to overcome its largest halftime deficit since Dec. 7, 1988, against Evansville, to give the school something it couldn't even accomplish in the Tim Duncan era.

"This really hasn't kicked in with us yet,'' Downey said. "But I'm sure there will be a lot of celebrating going on.''