North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State
Florida State
Hodge and Melvin Lead Pack Past Seminoles, 70-63
1/18/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan 18, 2003
By Tony Haynes
Tallahassee, Fla.--What a difference 48 hours can make. On Thursday night, NC State looked a like a beleaguered basketball team following a disheartening home loss to Boston College. Faced with a quick turnaround, the Wolfpack somehow righted the ship with only one-day of preparation and recorded a 70-63 victory over Florida State at the Leon County Civic Center. Saturday night's conference win was the Pack's first triumph away from home this season.
Showing the way for NC State (9-4, 2-1) was sophomore Julius Hodge, who scored 19 of his 22 points in the second half. The Wolfpack also got a boost from Marcus Melvin, who emerged from a deep shooting slump to tally 21 points and 10 rebounds. Scoreless on Thursday night, Melvin was off and running after drilling a three-point basket to give NC State a 6-0 lead less than two minutes into the game.
"When I hit my first shot I kind of felt Florida State might be in for a long night," Melvin said. "I was kind of feeling it. I was getting my teammates involved and I just felt good. I didn't get down on myself because the great players that play the game have nights like that. I couldn't feel sorry for myself and get down on myself because I knew I could score 20 or 30 points in my next game."
In NC State's previous two games, Melvin missed 15 of 18 shots, including an 0-7 night against B.C. Things turned around quite dramatically in Tallahassee, where he was 6-of-10.
But the Wolfpack's win didn't come without a cost. Playing his first game since sustaining a groin injury in late December, back-up center Jordan Collins went down again, this time with a severely twisted ankle that will require X-rays on Sunday. With Levi Watkins and Josh Powell's minutes limited by foul trouble, Collins gave the Pack some much-needed help on the front line. And his three-point basket that put NC State ahead 56-47 with 4:05 remaining may have been not only the biggest shot of the game, but the biggest of Collins' career.
"I wouldn't have traded any of his previous shots for that one," said Wolfpack head coach Herb Sendek. "You talk about the character of guys and what they do, here's a young man who up until yesterday hasn't done anything other than ride a stationary bike and shoot free throws. To go out and respond the way he did speaks volumes about the kind of heart he has."
Collins had eight points and three rebounds before turning his ankle late in the game. Sendek and the NC State training staff predicted that the latest injury could again keep him out of action for some time.
Although it had very little preparation time for Saturday's contest, NC State surprised Florida State (9-6, 0-4) with an active match-up zone defense that was intended to control the streaky three-point shooting of Seminoles' forward Tim Pickett. Mission accomplished. Often covered closely in the zone, Pickett made only 3-of-16 shots and was held to 11 points.
"I don't know if we could have executed the zone any better than we did tonight, especially with the short preparation time," Sendek said. "Certainly, a great deal of the credit goes to our coaching staff. Our assistant coaches don't get a lot of credit, but they did a good job of breaking down the film and putting together a game plan tonight."
Against the Zone, Florida State was held to 41.5 percent shooting from the field. The Wolfpack, which had shot an anemic 32 percent in its previous three road games, managed to knock down 22-of-50 shots for 44 percent on Saturday.
After missing four of his five shots in the opening half, Hodge came alive after intermission with key drives to the basket and a couple of big defensive plays. With NC State leading 48-45 with just over six minutes left, Hodge came up with a big steal and layup that pushed the Pack up by five. He then added an old fashioned three-point play after drawing a foul on a stick-back basket to make it 53-46 with 4:48 left. Just 43 seconds later, Collins gave the Wolfpack its biggest lead with his three from the top of the key.
After the Seminoles crawled to within five on a Todd Galloway lay in at the 1:47 mark, NC State did what it needed to do by taking care of the ball and making just enough free throws to close it out. Hodge made six straight free throws over the last 1:27 to nail it down.
"I think it takes a lot constitution and character to do what we did," Sendek said. "The guys stuck together and they just had a tremendous focus and determination. The score aside, I couldn't be prouder of these young men. This is a team that's weathered a tremendous amount of adversity from day one."
Florida State was led by Raleigh native Anthony Richardson and Trevor Harvey, who had 14 points apiece. Back-up guard Todd Galloway added 13 in the Seminoles' 8th consecutive loss to NC State.
