North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State
Coppin State
NC State Crushes Coppin State, 58-37
11/30/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov 30, 2002
By Tony Haynes
Raleigh, N.C.--For nearly 30 minutes on Saturday night, NC State got the slowdown game it was expecting against Coppin State. The deliberate Eagles were certainly in no hurry, milking the shot clock for all it was worth. But just as Coppin State tried to make a game of it, the Wolfpack jumped off the bike and into the Jaguar, pulling away for a 58-37 victory at the RBC Center.
Julius Hodge scored 10 of his 16 points in the second half and junior forward Marcus Melvin chipped in with 13 points and eight rebounds as the Pack improved to 2-0 on the young season.
"It was a great experience for our group to have to grind it out the way we did tonight," said NC State head coach Herb Sendek. "We watched them against Marquette and Ohio State, and it was very similar to our game tonight. You've just got to do it one possession at a time. It is easy to get frustrated."
And there was plenty of frustration to go around as the Wolfpack misfired on open shot after open shot against the Eagles' match-up zone over the first 27 minutes. A jumper by Raheem Scott with 13:06 remaining pulled Coppin State within three points at 28-25. The threat, however, would end there. Over the next several minutes, NC State would turn the game--and the tempo--around. Hodge got the Pack started with a three-point basket to make it a six-point game. The shot would set the stage for a 13-4 run that pushed the lead out to 41-29 with 7:15 left.
"We have a team of good shooters and we shoot 300 to 500 shots a day," said Melvin. "We keep telling each other to keep shooting and once a few shots go down, the confidence level goes back up."
 Julius Hodge, right, steals the ball from Coppin State's Raheem Scott.  |
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In outscoring Coppin State 30-12 over the last 13 minutes, the Wolfpack made 11 of its last 16 shots. The run included back-to-back drives by senior guard Cliff Crawford, who had seven points and five rebounds to go along with plenty of disruptive defense. And once the shots started falling, the Wolfpack was able to set up a full court press that forced 10 of the Eagles' 16 turnovers after halftime.
"I thought we got good energy with our presses," Sendek said. "I thought Cliff Crawford had a couple of big penetrations in the second half along with some big transition assists that really helped us. All in all, it was a good defensive effort. It's not easy to hold any team under 40 points in college basketball."
Coppin State (0-4), which nearly upset Ohio State in Columbus on Monday, did not fair well against the Wolfpack's man-to-man pressure, shooting just 31.9 percent (15-47) for the game. Forward Larry Tucker, who finished with 13 points, led the Eagles. Center Josh Powell (12) and guard Scooter Sherrill (10) also reached double figures for NC State.
The Wolfpack knocked down 42.9 percent of its shots (21-of-49), including just 7-of-23 from long-range.
