North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State Battles 9th Ranked Syracuse
12/7/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 7, 2001
By Tony Haynes
Before they sit down to take final exams next week, NC State's basketball players will face a test of a different kind on Saturday night: a meeting with 9th ranked Syracuse (9-0) at the Carrier Dome.
Champions of this year's Preseason NIT in New York, the Orangemen have wasted no time in establishing themselves as one of the best teams in the country. They've done it by forcing turnovers on defense and by relying on the explosive scoring performances of Preston Shumpert and DeShaun Williams.
Shumpert, a 6-6 senior, is averaging 22.8 points per game from the small forward position. The 6-3 Williams (21.8 ppg) is providing plenty of punch from the backcourt.
"Preston Shumpert is a great, great player," said NC State head coach Herb Sendek. "He's a terrific shooter, does a great job posting and really uses his size well. If he's not the best small forward in the country, there aren't many better than him. DeShaun Williams also has the capacity to put points on the board like Preston. We're really going to have to be alert and give great effort. It will take great team defense to nullify those two guys."
Syracuse is also getting a tremendous amount of production out of 6-6 junior Keith Duany, who is scoring nearly 15 points per game.
Defensively, the Orangemen play one of the nastiest 2-3 zones in America. Unlike many zones, which have the appearance of being somewhat passive, the Syracuse zone attacks opponents with aggressive traps that are often unpredictable. Through nine games, the Orangemen are forcing an average of 21 turnovers per contest.
"Temple, it seems, has gotten the most credit nationally for playing a great zone, and deservedly so," Sendek said. "Going way back to when I was an assistant at Providence, Syracuse has also played a great zone. It's not passive, they do force a lot of turnovers. You look at the turnovers they force and you might assume that they're pressing for 40 minutes. They trap out of the zone effectively and they do a good job of adjusting to what you do."
Sendek speaks from experience. Last season at the ESA, Syracuse trailed NC State by 11 points with five minutes to play before turning the game around with its defense. Forcing numerous turnovers down the stretch, the Orangemen came back to edge the Pack 54-53.
Following three sub-par offensive performances, NC State (6-2) did a better job of putting the ball in the basket in its most recent outing, an 80-42 win over Wofford on Wednesday night. The Wolfpack made 53.7 percent of its shots, including 61 percent in the second half.
