NC State
Georgia Tech
Wolfpack Downs Georgia Tech, 84-71
1/19/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan 19, 2002
By Tony Haynes
Raleigh, N.C.--Following Saturday's game against Georgia Tech at the ESA, NC State head coach Herb Sendek emerged from the lockerroom cradling a basketball like it was a newborn baby. Inscribed on the ball were the words: "Herb Sendek's 100th win at NC State."
The ball was a gift from Sendek's players, who got their coach to the century mark by pulling out a gusty come-from-behind 84-71 victory over the improving Yellow Jackets.
"We have special guys and it's just like them to be thoughtful like that," Sendek said. "I thought today's game was as a good a win as we've had all year. We might have beaten some higher ranked teams and we have some good road wins, but it took as much today to win the game as any other win we've had all season. I thought our guys showed tremendous intestinal fortitude and our crowd was absolutely fabulous. Our crowd wouldn't let us lose today and I can't tell you how good that made us feel."
But not many any the crowd of 15,951 were feeling very festive at halftime after Tech (7-11, 0-5) had scored nine straight points at the end of the opening stanza to grab a 41-34 advantage. Clarence Moore capped the run by drilling an off-balance 25-footer at the buzzer to send the Jackets into the lockerroom on a major high.
There were even more sweaty palms on the NC State sideline early in the second half when Tony Akins' tough jumper gave Georgia Tech a 45-34 advantage with 18:32 to play.
"We were just disappointed in ourselves [at halftime]," said Wolfpack forward Marcus Melvin, who finished with eight points and five rebounds. "We felt like this was a game that we could win. Coach was just telling us that we needed to play better defense. They were scoring a lot in transition in the first half. We just needed to get going on defense in the second half."
Tech built its lead by hitting seven of its first 13 three-pointers. Freshman B.J Elder came off the bench to score 10 points in the opening half, while Moore and Akins added nine apiece.
But after the Jackets went up by eleven, the fireworks really started in a game that featured a pair of teams that like to move the ball up and down the floor. With 16:42 remaining, Ilian Evtimov's three-point bomb moved the Pack within four points to complete a mini 5-0 NC State run. But on the other end, Tech's Marvin Lewis quieted the crowd momentarily by answering with a three of his own to make it 48-41.
More trouble for NC State (14-4, 4-2) appeared to be brewing when Akins was fouled while hitting a three-pointer with 14:01 left. Not only did his free throw go in to complete a four-point play, it gave the Yellow Jackets a 55-46 lead.
From that point on, however, it was all Wolfpack. Guard Anthony Grundy got the Pack started by making a tough baseline feed out of a trap to an open Archie Miller, who buried a three-ball from the right hand corner to make it a six-point game. Grundy came back with another three to make it 55-53, Georgia Tech. Following 15-foot jumper by Jackets' freshman Ed Nelson, Grundy scored again to pull NC State within three again. Seconds later, Evtimov would bang home another trey to tie things at 57-57.
Naturally, it was Grundy who put the Pack ahead to stay with two free throws that made it 59-57 with 10:33 remaining. Grundy, whose free throws completed a 10-2 run, finished up with 23 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals.
"He (Grundy) was penetrating, kicking to open shooters and making acrobatic plays and tough shots," said Melvin. "Anthony is our leader right now."
NC State's other senior leader is Archie Miller, who made the play of the game when he stole the ball from Akins, went down on the floor to come up with the loose ball and passed ahead to Josh Powell for a thunderous two-hand slam dunk. The play, which came with 7:32 left and put the Pack ahead 66-60, brought an appreciative crowd to its feet.
"The second half was symbolized by Archie diving on the floor for that loose ball," Sendek said. "The dunk at the end was the icing on the cake, but the play was made by Archie getting on the floor for the loose ball."
But Miller's heroics didn't put the game away as Tech continued to stay close. Nelson's old-fashioned three-point play pulled Georgia Tech within three at 66-63 with 7:10 remaining. Scooter Sherrill gave the Pack a little more breathing room by hitting a big three-point shot in transition to make it 69-63. After Tech's Clarence Moore converted a layup, Melvin's short jumper put the Pack ahead 71-65 with 5:09 showing on the clock.
Two jumpers by Evtimov sandwiched around Melvin's free throw gave NC State a 75-65 bulge with less than four minutes to play. Then over the last 1:34, the Wolfpack nailed seven of eight free throws to close out a game that was a lot closer than the final score.
"I thought for the most part we did a pretty good job for most of the game," said Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt. "We played with a lot of energy in the first half and got out to a seven-point lead. In the second half, we matched whatever runs they threw at us, but when it got 57-57 we stalled and they just kept moving forward."
Second half shooting played a big part in the outcome as the Wolfpack hit 56 percent of its shots (14-25) after intermission, including six of 12 from the arc. Overall, NC State made 26-57 (45.6 percent) for the game and was 23-of-30 from the free throw line. Tech knocked down 40 percent of its field goal attempts, but was only 10-of-30 in the second half for 40 percent.
The Wolfpack won the battle of the boards 39-34 and finished with just 10 turnovers--with only two of those coming in the second half.
Powell also reached double figures for NC State, scoring 14 points to go along with five rebounds. Miller, Cliff Crawford and Melvin had eight apiece. Five Jackets scored in double-figures, led by Akins who finished with 17. Moore and Nelson had 14 apiece, Lewis added 12 and Elder 11.
