North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State Suffers 88-82 Setback at Virginia
2/12/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
By Tony Haynes
It was a script that is becoming all too familiar to coach Herb Sendek and his NC State basketball team. The Wolfpack played hard, and at times, played well. But in the end, the Pack still couldn't get over the hump on the road.
Freshman center Travis Watson scored 20-points and added 12 rebounds Saturday night as Virginia (16-8, 6-5 ACC) rallied from five down at halftime to beat NC State 88-82.
The loss was the Wolfpack's third straight. With the win, Virginia snapped a three-game losing streak.
Virginia guard Donald Hand, who was shutout at halftime, scored all 17 of his points in the second half. He also did a good job of setting up his teammates with dribble penetration.
"We knew going in that they were a difficult team to match-up with, in large part because of Donald Hand," Sendek said. "We had a difficult time stopping them, even inside. Travis Watson was able to hurt us around the basket. Certainly with Ron Kelley out and Damon Thornton with foul trouble makes us a different basketball team."
With Kelley recovering from minor knee surgery, the onus has been on Thornton to stay out of foul trouble. But, with 13:57 left on Saturday, Thornton went to the bench with his fourth foul. At the time, Virginia was ahead 54-51.
After trailing by five at the break, Virginia quickly seized the momentum by going on a 15-6 run to open the second half. It all started with a Hand steal that resulted in an Adam Hall layup. The Cavaliers grabbed their first lead of the second stanza on a Hall dunk at the 17:15 mark. About a minute later, Hall knocked down a three-pointer to give UVA a 45-43 lead.
With 14:02 left and the Cavaliers up 53-49, NC State got a break when Watson went to the bench after picking up his fourth foul. But when NC State's Kenny Inge scored a couple of quick baskets inside, Virginia coach Pete Gillen gambled and brought Watson back into the game.
The gamble paid off.
A Watson layup at the nine-minute mark put the Cavaliers ahead 61-58. A minute later, Watson scored again to make it 63-60.
The Wolfpack (15-7, 5-6) briefly grabbed the lead with 6:07 left when freshman guard Clifford Crawford hit a pair of free throws. Crawford, who's seen limited playing time this season, played his best game of the year, scoring 12-points.
Watson answered on the other end to give Virginia a 67-66 advantage with 5:45 showing on the clock. That basket ignited a 13-2 run that gave the Wahoos a seemingly insurmountable 78-68 lead 1:52 remaining.
But NC State didn't die. With Virginia up 83-77, Wolfpack forward Damien Wilkins was fouled by Hall as he was attempting a three-point shot. The freshman nailed all three free throws to pull the Pack within three with 21.7 seconds left. A Justin Gainey layup with 16.6 seconds remaining brought NC State within two. But that was as close as the Wolfpack would get.
When the horn sounded at University Hall, NC State had seen its ACC road record drop to 0-5.
In the first half, NC State led by as many as eight on two different occasions before settling for a 37-32 lead at the break. Inge had 15-points in the opening 20-minutes.
Virginia, however, was a totally different team in the second half.
"I thought NC State outfought us in the first half," said UVA coach Pete Gillen. "I thought in the second half, we took a step past their intensity and we played harder. Travis Watson was phenomenal. They couldn't guard him."
Watson connected on 10 of 15 shots on the night. His physical presence inside was the primary reason Thorton fouled out with 5:01 left.
Chris Williams added 14 for Virginia and Hall had 11. Three-point sharpshooter Keith Friel hit some big shots off the bench in a 13-point performance.
Along with Crawford and Inge, the Wolfpack placed two other players in double-figures. Wilkins had 19, while Thornton finished with 12 points and eight rebounds.
For the second time this season, Virginia outscrapped NC State on the boards 48-40-including a 20-14 advantage on the offensive glass.
Both teams shot just over 44 percent from the floor.
