Four N.C. State starters hit double digits, as the No. 11-seeded Wolfpack had a commanding 79-65 victory over No. 6 San Diego State in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in Columbus, Oh., Friday. The win marks State’s first triumph in the tournament since defeating Cal on Mar 17, 2006.

Junior forward Richard Howell led the team with 22 points while sophomore guard Lorenzo Brown finished close behind, with 17 points and nine rebounds. Two other starters, sophomore forward C.J. Leslie and junior forward Scott Wood, also threw down double digits, scoring 15 and 10, respectively.

“Around the basket, we were able to get a lot done,” first year head coach Mark Gottfried said. “I thought Richard [Howell] in the first half was just sensational. It wasn’t just him, it was a lot of guys; but Richard set the tone for us offensively.”

The first half began with back-and-forth success for both teams, responding to one another with four tied scores and six lead changes. Howell could not be stopped in the paint while he threw down 15 points, successfully draining 7 of 9 attempts in the first half alone. Brown continued his score-supporting ways, supplying 5 assists on top of his 8 points.

“I wanted to win, I didn’t want this to be my last game,” Howell said. “I felt free in the first half; I felt like I could do anything because I didn’t have any fouls. Things changed in the second half, but I didn’t want to lose focus just because I was in foul trouble.”

The Aztecs defended Wood from the three with great effect, causing him to miss all attempts from beyond the arch in the first half and only completing one of three attempts on goal while in the paint. The San Diego State defense held NCSU back to 16.7 percent from range, forcing the Wolfpack to pound the ball inside. The Pack went into the half with a 4-point, 33-29 lead.

“I think we’ve been through a lot this year,” Brown said. “We’ve played a lot of great teams. The confidence comes from playing teams like Syracuse and UNC. Coming down the stretch, we just tried to focus on making big shots.”

State began the second half and did not look back, as the Aztecs trailed on their coattails for the remainder of the competition. San Diego State had no response for Howell, who continued his streak of unanswerable jump shots. Howell only showed difficulty, as usual, with fouling, drawing his fourth foul with just under ten minutes remaining in the game.

“I’m really proud of Richard [Howell],” Gottfried said. “On April 4, he weighed 275 pounds at 6’7″ and then he got himself down to the 240’s. He made himself much more agile and quicker, and I think he’s done really well in our offense this year. He’s typically smaller from a height position than everybody he plays against, he’s always going against taller guys. He’s played pretty good this year. Today was probably his best half offensively this year.”

The Aztecs began to struggle at the end of the half, giving up free balls on offense after missing shots and foregoing offensive rebounds. San Diego State head coach Steve Fisher called in a full-court press in the dying minutes, but to no avail, with his team having little luck in forcing turnovers.

“It’s one thing to be big. It’s another thing to be good. They’re big and good,” Fisher said. “Today was more about what North Carolina State did than what we didn’t do.”

Leslie continued his characteristic foul-drawing drives at the goal and drained 5 of 9 free-throw attempts in the second half. The game ended with boos from the Aztec fans after the SDSU defense left an open lane to senior guard C.J. Williams, who took advantage of the lenience and closed the scoring with a powerful one-handed dunk with 13.1 seconds left. The Pack would close out the competition with a 14-point, 79-65, victory.

State will face the winner between Georgetown and Belmont in the third round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday.