North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State Meets Florida State in Regular Season Finale
3/2/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
NC State (15-11, 5-10 ACC) at Florida State (11-15, 6-9 ACC) Leon-County Civic Center, Tallahassee, Florida Sunday, March 5, 2000 Tip-off 1:00 p.m. Airtime on the Wolfpack Capitol Sports Network is 12:30
By Tony Haynes
There's an old saying that records are made to be broken--but NC State's 1999-2000 basketball team is hoping it can sidestep the record book when it plays at Florida State in the regular season finale for both teams on March 5.
The school record for consecutive losses at the end of a regular season stands at six. The 1911-1912 Wolfpack, which posted an 0-6 record, shares that dubious honor with the 1995-96 team, which loss its last six regular season games..
Coach Jim Valvano's 1984 NC State squad lost its last five regular season games, and then added back to back post-season defeats in the ACC Tournament and the NIT for a season ending seven game skid.
Heading into Sunday's tilt at FSU, this year's edition of the Wolfpack has dropped seven straight. Throw in the fact that five of the seven games have been decided by six points or less, and you have a sure-fire formula for frustration.
"The lines that separate teams, not only in individual games, but throughout the course of a season, are very fine," said NC State head coach Herb Sendek. "There's not a great deal of difference between the teams in the upper echelon and those in the lower echelon. Teams that develop the best chemistry, teams that get a break and those that stay away from injury will separate themselves over time."
At one time, NC State was one of those teams that seemed to have chemistry. The Pack was 15-4 overall and 5-3 in the ACC before its February nosedive began with a devastating 78-73 loss at Maryland on February 6.
But the cohesiveness that once seemed so sturdy became fragmented when key reserves Ron Kelley and Marshall Williams were sidelined by knee injuries. Since then, the Wolfpack has been victimized by bad decisions in crucial situations, untimely technical fouls, scoring droughts, defensive lapses, questionable officiating calls and some bad luck.
"We became a different team in early February," Sendek said. "As of today, we haven't been able to regroup in a way that has allowed us to get over the hump and turn some of those close games in our favor. Although the passion and determination to succeed have remained consistent, we have not been able to come up with the recipe that would allow us to post a win."
Ironically, NC State's last taste of victory came against this weekend's opponent. On February 2 at the Entertainment and Sports Arena, the Wolfpack held off Florida State 68-58. Damien Wilkins led the Pack with 19-points and five rebounds while Anthony Grundy contributed 17-points.
And although Seminoles star Ron Hale scored 16 points in the first game, he connected on just 3-of-13 shots from the floor. FSU's Damous Anderson added 13, but many of his points came as the result of a late flurry of three-point baskets that came after the outcome had already been decided.
"They're coming off a big win over Virginia so they're playing very well," Sendek said of Florida State. "They have a lot of experience with seniors Damous Anderson, Ron Hale and Oliver Simmons. They're a veteran basketball team that shoots the ball very well."
It's doubtful anyone is shooting the basketball better than Anderson, who is hitting 45 percent of his three-point attempts to lead the ACC in that category. The 6'6 forward is also the league's second most accurate shooter overall (53.8 percent). In Florida State's 85-70 loss at Maryland on Wednesday night, Anderson continued his torrid scoring pace by hitting for 22-points.
NC State's all-time record in games played in Tallahassee is 0-9.
Note: New NC State head football coach Chuck Amato will be a pre-game guest on the Wolfpack Capitol Sports Network. Airtime is 12:30 p.m.
