BLACKSBURG -- The Virginia Tech men's basketball team ended what had been a wonderful month on a dreadful note.

The No. 16 Hokies had risen to the top of the ACC standings after winning seven of their first eight January games. But the Hokies fell 70-59 on Wednesday to North Carolina State, which had occupied the ACC cellar entering the game.

"It was kind of surprising because we knew we could come out and beat them," said Tech's Deron Washington, who had nine of his 12 points in the second half. "It seemed like we [weren't] ready to play."

Coach Seth Greenberg apologized to Tech fans for his team's outing.

"We were outcoached, we were outplayed, we were out-competed, we were out-focused, we were out-toughed," said Greenberg, who drew a technical foul in the final minute. "I'm really embarrassed by the manner in which we played.

"It's extremely disappointing. ... We did not play with a sense of purpose offensively. We didn't play with a sense of urgency defensively."

It was the Hokies' first loss in 11 games at Cassell Coliseum this season. The Hokies (16-6, 6-2) dropped into a second-place tie with Boston College in the ACC; North Carolina rose to first place at 6-1 after beating Miami on Wednesday.

"We didn't have enough energy," said Zabian Dowdell, who had 11 of his 16 points in the first half. "They definitely wanted it more than us."

State (12-8, 2-5) had lost four of its previous five games, and had been 0-4 against ranked foes this season. But the Wolfpack led the entire first half, and regained the lead for good with 15:53 to go.

"We were having a tough season so far, and to come in here on the road and beat a ranked team the way we did, ... it's tremendous," said State center Ben McCauley, who had 20 points and 10 baskets.

Tech had shot 52.2 percent from the field in its previous five games, including 59.5 percent in Sunday's win at Georgia Tech. But on Wednesday, the Hokies shot 35 percent.

"We had no rhythm on offense," Dowdell said. "Guys were just out there wandering around with no purpose."

Coleman Collins was 0-of-5 from the field, all in the first half. Collins, who had five dunks Sunday, finished without a point.

"Go chest-to-chest against him -- I felt like if I did that I could contain him," McCauley said.

Jamon Gordon also was 0-of-5 in the first half. Gordon, who missed practice Tuesday with the flu, had 10 of his 12 points in the second half. He finished 4-of-14 from the field.

Dowdell finished 4-of-11 from the field. A.D. Vassallo had two 3-pointers in the first half but was scoreless in the second half, finishing 2-of-7.

"We had to stop penetration from Gordon," State's Gavin Grant said. "We took Gordon out and tried to shadow Dowdell as much as we can. We didn't want to give Vassallo any looks."

Grant had 16 points (all in the second half) and 10 rebounds for the Wolfpack, which outrebounded Tech 42-29. State, which moved out of the ACC cellar with the win, shot 53.1 percent from the field.

"Our intensity on defense ... wasn't there," Washington said.

Tech cut the lead to 55-53 with 4:36 left, but the Wolfpack answered with a 7-0 run.

"We were tired," Greenberg said. "We did not play with the energy that you need to play with."

NC State MP FG FT R A F PT

Grant 35 5-8 6-8 10 3 2 16

Costner 35 2-8 4-4 11 1 1 9

McCauley 40 10-14 0-3 7 2 4 20

Fells 33 4-7 3-6 5 1 1 11

Atsur 35 5-11 0-0 2 2 3 14

Ferguson 3 0-1 0-0 0 1 0 0

Nieman 14 0-0 0-0 1 0 2 0

Horner 5 0-0 0-0 0 0 3 0

Totals 200 26-49 13-21 42 10 16 70

Virginia Tech MP FG FT R A F PT

Washington 33 5-11 2-4 8 0 4 12

Witcher 10 1-2 0-0 3 0 0 2

Collins 19 0-5 0-2 3 1 1 0

Dowdell 38 4-11 7-9 7 2 4 16

Gordon 32 4-14 4-4 3 3 3 12

Munson 4 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 0

Krabbendam 7 0-2 0-0 0 0 0 0

Sailes 19 2-3 1-2 0 0 0 5

Diakite 11 2-3 0-0 1 0 1 4

Vassallo 25 2-7 0-0 3 1 3 6

Tucker 2 1-2 0-0 0 0 0 2

Totals 200 21-60 14-21 30 8 16 59

Rebounds include team rebounds.

Score by periods:

NC State 30 40 -- 70

Virginia Tech 28 31 -- 59

3-point goals: NC State 5-18 (Atsur 4-10, Costner 1-3, Grant 0-2, Fells 0-2, Ferguson 0-1), Virginia Tech 3-10 (Vassallo 2-6, Dowdell 1-2, Washington 0-1, Sailes 0-1).

Turnovers: NC State 14 (Costner, McCauley 4), Tech 5 (Dowdell 2).

Blocked shots: NC State 3 (Grant 3), Tech 2 (Washington, Gordon).

Steals: NC State 2 (Grant, Costner), Tech 9 (Gordon 3).

Technical foul -- Tech coach Greenberg.

Officials: Maxwell, Stuart, Cahill. Attendance: 9,847.