North Carolina State University Athletics
North Carolina Frustrates NC State, 70-62
2/9/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
The Boston Pops Orchestra had John Williams. Frank Sinatra had Nelson Riddle. And North Carolina has Ed Cota.
As he done so many times in his four year career, UNC's conductor turned in another virtuoso performance from the point guard position on Wednesday night as the Tar Heels (15-9, 6-4) handed NC State its first loss at the Entertainment and Sports Arena, 70-62.
In Carolina's victory over the Pack a month ago, Cota did it with his scoring; hitting all eight of his shots in a 23-point performance. On Wednesday, the Brooklyn senior put on a point guard clinic. Cota's line: eleven assists, one turnover and six points.
"We just didn't have an answer for his penetration," said Wolfpack coach Herb Sendek. "We trapped as much as we could to get the ball out of his hands, especially in the second half. He never gets rattled and he has supreme confidence."
Many of Cota's deliveries landed in the hands of 7'0 center Brendan Haywood, who finished with 19-points and ten rebounds. Haywood, who made all six of his shots in Chapel Hill, converted on nine of twelve field goal attempts on Wednesday.
"If you get in front of him and no one is back there on help side defense, Cota's throwing it in there and he dunking the ball," said NC State forward Damon Thornton, who tried his best hold off the mammoth Haywood most of the night.
In fact, it was Thornton's second foul midway through the first half that totally changed the complexion of the game. At the time, NC State (15-6, 5-5) was leading 18-9. Bolstered by a rowdy sellout crowd of 19,722, the Wolfpack's advantage reached ten at one point.
But with Thornton on the bench, North Carolina took advantage by shredding the Pack down low.
Three Haywood dunks, a Julius Pepper's stuff and a Jason Capel three-pointer pulled the Heels within one at 22-21.
A Haywood layup evened the score at 26-26. North Carolina would eventually settle for a 28-26 edge at the break.
NC State's Anthony Grundy, who was shutout in the opening twenty minutes, opened the second half with a pair of three's to push the Pack ahead 32-30.
But when freshman Joseph Forte swished a three-point bomb from the top of the key at the 16:24, Carolina grabbed a 36-34 lead. It was a lead they would not relinquish the rest of the way.
Another Forte three pointer with 8:33 showing on the clock capped an 11-2 spurt to give the Tar Heels a 51-40 lead. All of sudden, the ESA was as silent as it had been all night.
Thornton, who was left unguarded on the perimeter most of the night, popped home a long-range bomb to pull the Wolfpack within six points with 7:33 left. But in what seemed to be an instant replay, Haywood answered with a dunk on the other end to make it 53-45 Tar Heels.
The Wolfpack closed to within five at 57-52 when Justin Gainey drove for a layup at 4:56. Haywood threw it down again to put Carolina up by seven.
NC State was still alive when Thornton nailed two free throws to get it down to five again with 1:32 left. But that was when Cota put the nail in the coffin. His 25-footer at the end of the shot clock with 57 seconds remaining gave the Tar Heels a 66-58 lead. The shot also sent many disappointed Wolfpack fans to the parking lot.
"That was a great win for us," said North Carolina coach Bill Guthridge. "Ed Cota was sensational, which means that Ed Cota was Ed Cota. I've said all along that we've been getting better. We still have a ways to go, but I think we are getting better. This was a win we needed to get. NC State is definitely an NCAA team, so to win here was a big win for us."
To compliment the efforts of Cota and Haywood, Forte had 16 for North Carolina. Guard Max Owens supplied some firepower off the bench with eight.
For NC State, Thornton finished with 18-points and four rebounds in 28-minutes. Gainey had 15-points, six assists and only one turnover. Grundy scored all eleven of his points in the second half.
Carolina hit 46.6 percent of its shots for the game, but converted on 55.2 percent in the decisive second half. NC State made 40.0 percent of its shots.
The Heels also dominated the boards 46-31-including an impressive 16-9 advantage on the offensive glass.
NC State was without the services of freshman swingman Marshall Williams who underwent arthroscopic surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his knee earlier in the day. Backup center Ron Kelley was also unavailable as he is still recovering from minor knee surgery.
