Dec. 23, 2001

Final Stats

Houston, Texas -

Just as they did 20 years ago, North Carolina State upended Houston with a last second shot as Marcus Melvin drilled up a desperation three-point field goal just left from the top of the key to give the Wolfpack a 67-66 victory over Houston in Hofheinz Pavilion Sunday afternoon.

"We played hard to the very end," Houston head coach Ray McCallum said. "We showed some highlights of the 1983 NCAA Championship game to the team last night, and to have it go down like this is unbelievable.

"When you pick up a loose ball and just throw it in, it's unbelievable."

The Cougars trailed by seven, 61-54, with 6:08 left to play after Levi Watkins made a three-point field goal from the right wing.

Houston went on a 9-2 run during the next five minutes to pull to take a 64-63 lead with one minute left to play as Louis Truscott made two free throws.

On North Carolina State's next possession, Houston's George Williams was called for a foul that sent Julius Hodge to the free throw line. Hodge made his first free throw. He missed the second and Williams grabbed the rebound with 38 seconds remaining.

Houston held the ball until 14 seconds were left and Kevin Gaines drove from the top of the key into the left side of the lane. He spotted Williams cutting toward the basket and passed him the ball. Williams caught the pass and threw down a dunk with seven seconds remaining.

"We knew the game was not over," said North Carolina State head coach Herb Sendek. "6.5 seconds is a lot of time left in a basketball game>"

After Sendek called two timeouts, Hodge tried to pass the ball to Clifford Crawford on the left wing. Williams knocked the ball loose from the left baseline back toward the half-court line.

Melvin scrambled for the loose ball and put up a shot that resembled a shot put just as the buzzer sounded. The ball hit nothing but the bottom of the net for the victory.

"When the shot left my hand, I knew it was going to be around the rim," Melvin said. "Actually, I thought it was going to hit off the glass, but it was a swish."

Before the officials called the basket good, referee Kerry Sitton ruled that Melvin had gotten the shot off in time to give the Wolfpack their 10th victory of the season.

"This is one of those times when it is better to be lucky than good," Sendek said. "The ball was bobbled and deflected to Marcus (Melvin) and he took an off balanced shot as time expired. We were fortunate to win the game."

"We worked so hard and deserved to win as much as North Carolina State," McCallum said. "This has been the most difficult week in my coaching career.

Houston entered the North Carolina State game looking to rebound from a four-point loss (73-69) at LSU last Thursday night.

Williams recorded his first double-double of the season as he led all scorers with 22 points and pulled down 10 rebounds. Louis Truscott added 14 points and a career-high 14 rebounds for the Cougars who fall to 5-5 this season and will play Tennessee State on December 30 at 2:00 p.m.

Melvin led the Wolfpack with 18 points and Anthony Grundy added 17 points.