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TAMPA, Fla. -- The Virginia Tech men's basketball team suffered its usual monthly loss to North Carolina State, this time in the ACC Tournament.

The 10th-seeded Wolfpack beat the third-seeded Hokies for the third time this season, winning 72-64 in a semifinal Saturday at the St. Pete Times Forum.

"We blew our opportunity to get to the ACC Tournament championship game," said Jamon Gordon, whose team had blown its shot at the regular-season title by losing its final two regular-season games. "Everybody in this locker room's hurt, man. We wanted to win a championship, man. I'm tired of saying, 'What if, what if.'

"I hate losing to a team three times."

The Wolfpack (18-14) won 70-59 at Tech on Jan. 31 and cruised 81-56 in Raleigh on Feb. 18.

"It hurts," said Zabian Dowdell, who had 15 points but was 6-of-19 from the field. "We definitely felt like we had a chance to win this game. ... We felt like we were the fresher team.

"When a team beats you three times in one season, ... it eats at you, man. As a competitor, it makes you lose sleep at night."

The Hokies shot 41.9 percent from the field and 42.1 percent (8-of-19) from the free-throw line. State was 24-of-28 from the line.

"Free throws won the game for them and kind of lost it for us," said Gordon, who had 12 points and 11 rebounds but was 5-of-11 from the field and 2-of-5 from the line. "We missed some easy shots, just regular layups."

State plays North Carolina for the title today; this is the first time a team seeded lower than eighth has reached the final. The Hokies will watch the NCAA tournament pairings announcement on TV tonight, confident of getting an at-large bid and making the field for the first time in 11 years.

Tech's A.D. Vassallo sank a 3-pointer to tie the score at 48 with 7:15 left, but center Ben McCauley made two free throws to give State the lead for good with 6:57 to go.

After Coleman Collins missed the front end of a one-and-one, guard Courtney Fells hit a jumper for a 52-48 lead. Fells had 16 points.

Deron Washington missed a jumper, and swingman Gavin Grant sank two free throws for a 54-48 lead with 5:35 to go. Grant had 20 points and made all 11 of his free throws.

Gordon missed the front end of a one-and-one, and Washington missed a layup. A Dowdell jumper cut the lead to 54-50, but McCauley answered with a basket.

Gordon and Dowdell each missed a layup, and Collins missed the front end of a one-and one.

"I have no idea," Collins said of why he was 0-of-2 at the line. "It's been a weird year. ... Everybody missed free throws. If we'd have hit three or four [more], it's a completely different game."

Grant made two more free throws for a 58-50 cushion with 2:55 left.

The Wolfpack was playing its third game in three days, so the Hokies wanted to run.

But they had just three fast-break baskets. Tech scored just 18 points off 17 State turnovers.

"They're a great transition team," Fells said, "so we take that away, we've got a good chance of stopping them when they run their set offense."

"When we did get a chance to run, we couldn't convert," Dowdell said. "They did a good job of controlling the tempo. As a team, they're so deliberate in what they run. ... It was just hard to get out and run."

State shot 52.5 percent from the field, including 66.7 percent in the first half. Coach Seth Greenberg said he used some bad lineups in that half.

McCauley scored 36 points in the previous two meetings combined but was held to two baskets Saturday. Power forward Brandon Costner had just three baskets. Point guard Engin Atsur, who hurt his hamstring, was 1-of-6 from the field.

But Grant and Fells combined for 10 baskets.

"It's something about their offense," Washington said. "They just find the open man, and the big men are so good passing the ball out of the post."

Greenberg said he had chest pain and shortness of breath during the game, but the team doctor checked his pulse and allowed him to continue coaching.

NC State MP FG FT R A F PT

Grant 39 4-9 11-11 5 3 0 20

Costner 33 3-6 4-6 4 3 4 10

McCauley 37 2-4 4-4 4 3 4 8

Fells 26 6-9 2-4 6 0 4 16

Atsur 29 1-6 0-0 2 3 3 3

Ferguson 4 1-1 0-0 1 0 0 2

Nieman 17 2-2 0-0 1 0 1 5

Horner 14 2-3 3-3 2 1 1 8

Clark 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0

Team 3

Totals 200 21-40 24-28 28 13 17 72

Virginia Tech MP FG FT R A F PT

Washington 21 4-8 2-2 2 2 5 11

Collins 25 2-3 0-2 6 0 3 4

Vassallo 36 5-11 0-0 5 1 5 12

Dowdell 37 6-19 3-4 4 1 5 15

Gordon 36 5-11 2-5 11 4 0 12

Munson 5 1-2 0-0 0 0 1 3

Witcher 9 2-3 0-0 2 0 1 4

Sailes 17 0-2 1-6 1 0 2 1

Diakite 14 1-2 0-0 0 0 0 2

Tucker 0 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0

Team 2

Totals 200 26-62 8-19 33 8 22 64

Rebounds include team rebounds.

Score by periods:

NC State 31 41 -- 72

Virginia Tech 25 39 -- 64

3-point goals: N.C. State 6-13 (Fells 2-4, Atsur 1-4, Grant 1-2, Nieman 1-1, Norner 1-1, Costner 0-1), Virginia Tech 4-10 (Vassallo 2-4, Munson 1-2, Washington 1-1, Dowdell 0-2, Tucker 0-1).

Turnovers: N.C. State 17 (McCauley 5), Virginia Tech 10 (Dowdell 4).

Blocked shots: N.C. State 4 (McCauley 3), Virginia Tech 1 (Gordon).

Steals: N.C. State 6 (McCauley 3), Virginia Tech 9 (Gordon 3).

Officials: Wood, Clinton, Ayers.

Attendance: 22,269.