North Carolina State University Athletics
Wolfpack Ready For Big Weekend
3/6/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 6, 2002
2002 NCAA Men's Basketball Championship Teleconference with NC State AD Lee Fowler (March 6, 2002)
By Tony Haynes
Charlotte, N.C. - Regardless of what happens here at the ACC Tournament this weekend, the NC State basketball team knows it will gather as one on Sunday at 6 p.m. to watch the NCAA pairings show on CBS. That's certainly a far cry from recent years when the show wasn't necessarily a ratings success around the Case Athletics Center.
This year, however, is different. Following a 20-9 season that included a third place tie in the final ACC standings, the Wolfpack is expected to receive its first NCAA tournament berth in 11 years. Still, there will probably be some anxious moments when the club gets together to watch the selections on Sunday evening.
"I haven't watched the selection show in a couple of years because it really hasn't been that big a deal to me," said Wolfpack senior guard Archie Miller. "That selection day has been kind of hard the last couple of seasons knowing that we weren't going to be in it. I think we will all be a little nervous. You never know what's going to happen, especially with NC State's luck over the last couple of years. We've put ourselves in a situation this season where I think we can relax on that day."
NC State's opponent in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament on Friday probably isn't relaxing right now. Virginia, which was 17-10 overall and 7-9 in conference play during the regular season, probably needs one or perhaps two victories this weekend to secure a spot in the field of 65. Two of Uva's losses this year came at the hands of the Wolfpack. In fact, the Pack has prevailed in five of the last seven games played between the two schools over the last three seasons.
"I think we match up well with them," Miller said. "I think the two times we played them they were maybe sleeping on us a little bit. But that doesn't really matter now. We're going to get their best effort and they're going to get ours. I think they're playing with their backs against the wall a little bit and we're trying to get better and see how high we can go. I think it's going to come down right to the end."
During the regular season, the Pack put together two of its best performances against the Cavaliers. When the two clubs met in Charlottesville back on January 5, Virginia was ranked fourth in the country and unbeaten with a 9-0 record. But that was before the young Wolfpack survived a late Uva rally to post an 81-74 win. NC State got a combined 36 points from freshmen forwards Julius Hodge and Ilian Evtimov. In game two at the ESA, Scooter Sherrill scored a career-high 20 points off the bench and Marcus Melvin drilled four three-point shots in the Wolfpack's 85-68 victory.
Virginia played that second game without senior forward Adam Hall, who missed a total of 11 games with a foot injury. Among other things, the 6-5 Hall's recent return sparked a stunning upset win by the Cavaliers over third ranked Duke in Charlottesville.
"He just gives them another experienced player and a talented one at that," said Pack coach Herb Sendek. "He is a guy that makes things happen for them on both ends of the floor. He's a catalyst. I think they're obviously a better team when he's available to them."
Interestingly, NC State made exactly 50 percent of its field goal attempts in two games against Virginia, hitting 54 of 108 shots. The Wolfpack was also an impressive 16-of-40 from the three-point arc in those two games.
ACC Tourney notes:Maryland, which won the league's regular season title with a 15-1 record, is the tournament's top seed for the first time since 1984....North Carolina and Duke will play in the quarterfinal round for the first time ever when they square off Friday night at 7:00 p.m. With 205 long-range bombs in his career, Miller is 25th on the league's all-time list for three-point field goals. He needs five more to pass former Duke guard and current Blue Devils' assistant coach Chris Collins. Virginia center Travis Watson posted 16 double-doubles this season and has 37 for his career. The 6-8 Watson averaged 24.5 points and 12.5 rebounds in two games against NC State this season.
