North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State
Maryland
Turnovers Doom Wolfpack in 75-60 Loss to Maryland
1/30/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
By Tony Haynes
College Park, MD.--For 25 minutes of basketball on Thursday night, NC State went toe-to-toe with Maryland's 10th ranked Terrapins. But 25 minutes won't cut it against the defending national champions on their homecourt. Getting deadly three-point shooting from senior guards Drew Nicholas and Steve Blake, along with constant defensive pressure that forced 21 Wolfpack turnovers, Maryland took control of the ACC basketball race with a 75-60 victory over NC State in front of a raucous crowd of 17,950 at the sparkling new Comcast Center.
The win left the Terrapins (13-4, 6-1) with a game and a half lead over the Wolfpack (11-5, 4-2), Wake Forest and Duke in the conference standings.
Leading just 43-41 with 15 minutes remaining, the Terps used six rapid-fire turnovers by the Pack and three long-range bombs by Nicholas to go on a 14-0 spurt that made it 57-41. Nicholas, who was held scoreless in the opening half, scored all 13 of his points in the second half. Known more for his playmaking abilities at the point, Blake was a perfect 4-of-4 from the arc to pace Maryland with 20 points. As a team, the Terps recorded their best three-point shooting game since 1994, drilling 8-of-11 for the game. But players and coaches on both sides agreed that Maryland's stifling fullcourt pressure ultimately turned the game in its favor.
"We turned the ball over too much," said Wolfpack head coach Herb Sendek. "You look at the final composite, we had 21 turnovers. And during that juncture, we just had too many unforced errors. We gave up the three ball in that particular sequence. Our turnovers led to our demise. We prepared for [the press] all week. I think in many cases, they were unforced turnovers; we would travel when nobody was within eight feet of us."
Still, after falling behind by 16, the Pack nearly crawled back in it on the strength of three-pointers by freshman Cameron Bennerman, Levi Watkins and Marcus Melvin. After a Melvin three concluded a 10-0 run to draw NC State within six at 60-54 with 5:19 remaining, the Wolfpack had two chances to get closer. But Watkins missed a pair of jumpers, including an open three-point try in transition that could have made it interesting.
"That's a positive we can take out of this negative outcome," Wolfpack guard Scooter Sherrill said of the late-game comeback. "They got a big lead and this team kept its composure in a hostile environment. But it's still disappointing that we lost."
After dodging the bullet, the Terps would outscore NC State 15-6 over the last four minutes to seal it.
The Wolfpack, which averaged just over 11 turnovers in last week's big home wins over Duke and North Carolina, buckled against the Maryland pressure, which seemed to intensify in the second half. Before fouling out, senior guard Cliff Crawford had six turnovers and only two points. Big men Marcus Melvin and Josh Powell, who left the game late with a hip-pointer, had eight turnovers between them.
Generating offense from its defense, Maryland was able to shoot an even 50 percent for the game, including 56 percent in the second half. The Wolfpack knocked down 20-of-44 shots for 45.5 percent.
"Their two senior guards were outstanding," Sendek said. "Between them, they were 7-of-10 on threes."
Melvin, who drained 4-of-7 threes, led NC State with 15 points. Maryland did a good job of rotating fresh players on ACC leading score Julius Hodge, who managed to convert on only 3-of-8 shots from the field in scoring 14 points--more than five below his average. Powell also hit double figures for the Pack with 12 points.
"State really did a good job of controlling the tempo in the first half," said Terps coach Gary Williams. "We've been playing good defense now for awhile, and we did again tonight. That's what's carried us here the last two games. We've been able to shut people down when we haven't been real fluid offensively."
Jumping out to an early 5-0 lead, NC State seemed to control the pace of the game in the opening half before settling for a 28-27 advantage at the break. The two clubs then stayed even through the first five minutes of the second stanza before the Terps finally broke it open. The loss was the Pack's 14th straight in College Park.
