North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State Takes a Crash Course in Mississippi Basketball
3/22/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
By Tony Haynes
NC State doesn't know very much about Mississippi. Fortunately, the Rebels are just as unfamiliar with the Wolfpack.
Neither team will have much preparation time before they face-off in the quarterfinals of the National Invitation Tournament Thursday night at the ESA. The winner will earn a trip to New York for next week's NIT Semi-finals at Madison Square Garden.
On Tuesday, NC State (19-12) snapped a three-year streak of second round losses in the NIT by holding off Arizona State 60-57. Forward Kenny Inge led the Pack with 19-points and 12 rebounds.
Mississippi (19-13) made it through round two by routing Southwest Missouri State 70-48.
Don't think for a minute that NC State coach Herb Sendek and his staff were waiting around late Tuesday night to figure out what team they would be playing before gathering information on the opponent. Assistant Sean Miller had already begun the process of looking at both Mississippi and Southwest Missouri State last weekend.
The Rebels will come to Raleigh having won four of their last six games. The two losses during that stretch were to then No. 12 LSU (64-60) and then No. 11 Florida (89-67).
Like NC State, Mississippi has had trouble winning on the road this season; the Rebels were 1-9 away from home base during the 1999-2000 campaign. That figure may bode well for the Wolfpack, which is 16-3 at the ESA.
Rod Barnes is in his second season as the head coach at Mississippi. Ironically, the man he replaced was Rob Evans, who is now the head coach at Arizona State. Barnes was an assistant under Evans from 1993-98.
The Rebels are led by forward Marcus Hicks, who averages 14.5 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. The 6'6 senior led four Mississippi players in double figures with 16 points in Tuesday night's one-sided win over Southwest Missouri State.
6'8, 250 pound junior Rahim Lockhardt, who grabbed 14 rebounds on Tuesday, is averaging 12.4 points and 8.4 boards per contest. Lockhardt has posted 13 double-doubles this season.
Thursday's game will mark only the third meeting between NC State and Mississippi. The first two games were played during the 1927-28 and 1928-29 seasons. The series is tied at one game apiece.
The Wolfpack is trying to advance to the semi-finals of the NIT for the fourth time in school history. Previously, the Pack made it to New York in 1947, 1976 and 78. NC State's all-time NIT record now stands at 12-9.
