RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) _ Anthony Grundy scored 17 points and Kenny Inge added 15 as North Carolina State escaped the Atlantic Coast Conference cellar with a 72-60 victory over Georgia Tech on Tuesday night.

Grundy was 6-for-27 from the field in a 72-69 loss at Clemson on Saturday as the Wolfpack (9-6, 1-3 ACC) struggled on offense. But the guard scored 11 first-half points on three 3-pointers and the defense did the rest.

Inge was 11-for-12 from the foul line, while Damien Wilkins added 14 points.

Georgia Tech was coming off a pair of wins over top 10 teams _ Virginia and Wake Forest _ for the first time since the 1985 ACC tournament, but its offense was miserable against N.C. State, shooting 41 percent with 20 turnovers.

Alvin Jones led Georgia Tech with 21 points, but the Yellow Jackets' outside shooters were virtually ineffective. Top 3-point shooter Shaun Fein was 3-for-11 from the field.

N.C. State used a 20-4 run at the end of the first half and beginning of the second to take control and move to 25-5 in two seasons in the Entertainment and Sports Arena.

Georgia Tech pulled to 40-33 with 11:49 to play, but Wilkins and Clifford Crawford sank consecutive 3-pointers and Grundy made two free throws in a span of 49 seconds to push the margin to 15 as N.C. State beat Georgia Tech for the eighth time in the last nine meetings.

The Yellow Jackets were limited to four points over a six-minute stretch late in the second half and turned it over six times in the final nine minutes.

The Wolfpack missed 15 of its first 18 shots against Georgia Tech's zone defense to fall behind by seven in the opening 11 minutes.

But N.C. State closed the period with a 14-4 run as Grundy hit two 3-pointers and a 17-footer.

The Wolfpack once again went without ACC 3-point shooting leader Archie Miller (stress fracture) and center Ron Kelley played only nine minutes because of knee problems.