North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State
Charleston Southern
Wolfpack's Balanced Attack Crushes Charleston Southern, 70-50
12/19/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec 19, 2001
By Tony Haynes
Raleigh, N.C.--If they had been playing football at the Entertainment and Sports Arena on Wednesday night, Charleston Southern would have owned a substantial edge in the obligatory `time of possession' category. But football won't be played until Thursday. This was basketball, and in spite of the Buccaneers' ball-hogging strategy, NC State came out on top, 70-50.
Sophomore forward Marcus Melvin score 13 of his game high 17 points in the second half, while Josh Powell and Archie Miller added 15 apiece as the Wolfpack (9-2) recorded its fourth straight win.
Often running the shot clock down inside of five seconds, Charleston Southern (3-6) did a good job of controlling the tempo. At least that was the case when the Buccaneers hung onto the ball. Pressing after made baskets and free throws, NC State scored 29 points off 24 Charleston Southern turnovers and held a dominant 31-to-20 edge on the boards.
"They were intent on keeping it a possession game and using shot clock, and they did just that," said NC State head coach Herb Sendek. "They made us guard them for 35 second possessions. I thought our defense, particularly in the second half, was very good. Offensively, we never did get into a rhythm tonight. But it was a good grind'em out, hard fought win."
It was a grind, especially at the beginning when NC State fell behind 6-0 right off the bat. But that's when the Pack's press took over. Forcing turnovers that led to easy baskets, the Wolfpack went on a 20-2 run that included two three-point baskets by Miller and one by Julius Hodge.
But Charleston Southern fought back, getting long range bombs from Trent Drafts, Gene Granger and Mirko Mandic over the last four minutes to close within five points (34-29) at the half.
"There was a number of times where we played good defense for 20-plus seconds, and then it takes one guy out of five to have a breakdown for a quick moment, and it results in a productive possession." Sendek said. "A couple of times we reached in and fouled at the end of the shot clock and let them off the hook."
But the Wolfpack would not let the Bucaneers off the hook in the second half. While Charleston Southern went scoreless over the first 3:30, the Wolfpack put together a 9-2 blitz to move out in front 43-31. The Pack repeatedly pumped the ball inside to Melvin and Powell, who usually produced with points in the paint.
"The coaches told me to be a little more aggressive in the second half," Melvin said. "I think that really set the tone for our team and got us a little more in the groove. We got to the free throw line and knocked those down. That really helped us get this win."
Melvin, in fact, was a perfect 4-of-4 from the line as NC State hit 19-of-24 from the stripe as a team.
After the Pack built its lead to 12, Charleston Southern, which lost by 20 points at 5th ranked Virginia on Monday night, would get no closer than nine the rest of the way.
With just under five minutes left, many in the crowd got a treat when the 6-9 Powell elevated high above two Buccaneers and the rim for a spectacular tip in off of a miss by Miller. The freshman from Riverdale, Georgia was replaced in the starting line-up by Levi Watkins after missing a substantial amount of practice time on Thursday because of a bruised lower back. But it didn't take Sendek long to get Powell in the game after Charleston Southern grabbed a couple of offensive rebounds in the first minute.
To go along with his 15 points, Miller added four assists and five steals. Senior guard Anthony Grundy, who had scored 44 points in the Pack's last two games, never got it going and finished with just eight points.
NC State hit 60 percent of its shots in the second half and finished up at 47.9 percent for the game. Charleston Southern knocked down 47.6 percent of its shots (20-of-42) on the night.
