Alex Len’s putback gives Terps upset win over Wolfpack

“I thought our defense and our effort was phenomenal and our fight to get back in the game a couple of times was unbelievable,” Gottfried said. “We started the game off 10 down, we were down nine or 10 in the second half and fought right back and put ourselves in a position to win.”

Down 45-43, the Wolfpack pulled even on a follow shot by Richard Howell and took their first lead on a 3-pointer by Scott Wood with 4:37 to go. But N.C. State never found its shooting touch — Wood finished 3 for 13, including 3 for 11 from beyond the arc.

“They played really good defense, and when we had opportunities to knock down shots we usually make, we didn’t,” Wood said.

Asked if this negated the win over Duke, Gottfried said, “They all count as one. We’re going to move on.”

Maryland led 30-21 early in the second half before Brown made two baskets — including a driving dunk — during a 9-2 run that cut the margin to one point.

James Padgett then scored for the Terrapins and Jake Layman popped a 3-pointer to make it 37-30. Minutes later, a 3-pointer by Howard put Maryland ahead 40-31, and a driving layup by teammate Dez Wells made it a 10-point game.

The Wolfpack went 6½ minutes without a basket before a driving layup by Leslie cut the deficit to 42-35. That was part of an 8-0 spurt that got N.C. State to 42-40.

A horrid first half ended with Maryland leading 22-16 despite shooting 30 percent, going 0 for 6 from 3-point range and committing seven turnovers.

The Wolfpack needed more than 7 minutes before getting onto the scoreboard and shot 23 percent (7 for 31) in its lowest-scoring half of the season.

Maryland got off a solid start, getting two baskets apiece from Seth Allen and Shaquille Cleare in going up 10-0. The Wolfpack opened 0 for 6 with three turnovers.

Howell ended N.C. State’s scoring drought with a layup at the 13:52 mark, and then the Wolfpack missed their next six shots. Maryland also went cold, missing 16 straight field-goal tries over a span of nearly 12 minutes. Howard snapped the dry spell with a driving layup to put the Terrapins ahead 16-13.

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