North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State
Wofford
Hodge Leads N.C. State Over Wofford, 86-71
12/29/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec 29, 2002
By Tony Haynes
Raleigh, N.C.--NC State wasn't about to take Wofford lightly, not after watching tapes that showed the Terriers playing hotly contested games against the likes of Clemson, South Carolina, Virginia Tech and West Virginia. The Wolfpack made sure this one didn't turn into a nailbiter, jumping out to an early 14-4 advantage before coasting home to an 86-71 victory.
Julius Hodge posted a double-double with 26 points and 11 rebounds, and senior guard Cliff Crawford added a career-high 22 points as the Wolfpack improved its record to 7-1. NC State's early spurt was ignited by Crawford, whose three early steals led to easy baskets.
"We took care of business," said Pack head coach Herb Sendek. "At this time of year with guys coming back from the Christmas holidays, you see a lot of different upsets around the country."
The upset didn't happen, but Sendek was less than cheery as he left the floor immediately following the game. After building a lead that once reached 26 points with just over 16 minutes remaining, the defensive energy that had allowed the Pack to take control of the game seemed to dissipate. And after Sendek emptied his bench at about the two minute mark, Wofford went on to score the last 11 points of the game to make the final score a little more respectable.
"The human mind wants you to say that it's OK to relax," Sendek said. "We put some guys in at the end that hopefully will learn from the experience that they just had."
Fortunately, a little late-game lapse didn't hurt the Pack in this one. Leading 38-24 at the half, the Wolfpack put it away over the first four minutes of the second period, going on a 14-5 spurt that made it 55-29. Hodge opened the run with a three-point shot from the top of the key. The onslaught ended with Crawford draining a pair of free throws at the 16:24 mark. The Pack, which finished 22-of-25 from the line, made its first 16 charity tosses before finally missing.
Crawford was everywhere in the first half, coming up with three easy layups after steals that gave his team an early cushion. To go along with his top career scoring effort, the senior from Winston-Salem added four steals and six assists.
"I pride myself defensively," Crawford said. "Anytime you can come out and turn defense into offense, you're going to have a good night."
Crawford and Hodge also locked up Wofford's two best scorers when the Wolfpack was opening up a comfortable lead over the first 30 minutes. Coming in, Terrier guards Mike Lenzly and Lee Nixon were both shooting well over 40 percent from the three-point arc, while also generating plenty of offense with drives to the basket. But in the opening half on Sunday, they combined to make just 2-of-12 shots.
"They're two great senior guards," Crawford said. "We really got prepared for them and really went over their actions in practice. That was really to my advantage because I usually knew where they were going to be."
And when either Lenzly or Nixon did penetrate, they usually encountered helpers like Marcus Melvin and Josh Powell who did a good job of guarding the basket. Powell, in fact, finished with a game-high four blocked shots.
Despite an off shooting game by his standards (3-10), Melvin also reached double figures with 11 points to go along with six rebounds. Nixon (15) and Lenzly (14) eventually got their points, but made only 10-of-27 shots between them.
Shooting 57.7 percent (15-of-26) in the second half, NC State ended up hitting 46.8 percent from the field for the game. Wofford (4-5) was 26-61 for 42.6 percent.
