North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State Looks to Hold Bell, B.C. in Check
1/15/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 15, 2003
By Tony Haynes
Nearly 12 months ago, the NC State men's basketball team encountered one of the nation's most dynamic and prolific scorers when it faced Temple's Lynn Greer. On Thursday, the Wolfpack will be confronted with a similar challenge when explosive Troy Bell and his Boston College Eagles visit the RBC Center for a 7 p.m. tip-off.
The Pack can only hope it will have as much success shutting down Bell as it did Greer last year. Guarded mostly by Julius Hodge, Greer, who was averaging 23 points per game at the time, was 0-11 from the field and scored all four of his points from the free throw line in an 80-61 NC State victory.
It is, of course, unrealistic to think the Wolfpack will match that success against Bell, who averages 23 points per contest for the 6-6 Eagles. The 6-1 senior seemingly possesses the entire package in his offensive arsenal, scoring regularly on both three-point shots and drives to the basket. And the pressure he puts on opposing defenders also gets him to the free throw line an average of eight times per game. An 81.3 percent free throw shooter, Bell got to the line 14 times in Boston College's 82-74 loss at Syracuse last weekend.
But Bell is hardly a one-man show. Backcourt mate Ryan Sidney is putting up 14.3 points and an amazing 8.0 rebounds per game. The Eagles are also getting a lot of production from freshman forward Craig Smith, who's averaging 21.1 points per contest, while also shooting 65 percent from the field.
"Boston College is an NCAA Tournament team from last year," said NC State head coach Herb Sendek. "They return one of the most heralded backcourts in the country with Troy Bell and Ryan Sidney. They're going to be a great challenge for us."
NC State will be looking for some home cooking following last Saturday's 85-61 defeat at Georgia Tech. Eight and 0 at home and 0-3 on the road, the Wolfpack is shooting 51 percent inside the friendly confines of the RBC Center. But in games outside Raleigh, the Pack has managed to knock down only 34 percent of its field goal attempts.
Now that it is getting improved play from forward Levi Watkins and Josh Powell, NC State is a team that could still make some noise in the ACC if its "big guns" can get their act together. In Saturday's loss at Tech, Hodge, Scooter Sherrill and Marcus Melvin were a combined 6-of-24 from the floor.
Hodge, in particular, had a tough afternoon in Atlanta. Frustrated by his inability to get anything going offensively, the 6-6 sophomore was benched for the final 11 minutes of the game after he went off on his own and attempted to dribble through the Yellow Jackets zone press. The solo act produced back to back turnovers and an off-balance three-point shot that missed badly.
"Those 11 minutes have been over for some time, to be honest with you," Sendek responded when asked about last weekend's benching of Hodge. "We came back and guys were intent on moving forward. We've certainly put a lot of responsibility on Julius' plate as a young player in our program. We expect an awful lot from him. He's still very much engaged in the learning process as we all are."
But throw out just a few games, and Hodge has been consistently productive most of the season with an average of 18.3 points and 6.5 rebounds per game.
This will be just the second ever meeting between NC State and Boston College. The two clubs last met in historic Boston Garden back on December 20, 1967 when Norm Sloan's Pack fell to the Eagles 72-55.
