North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State
Virginia
Pack Tops Virginia In ACC Opener, 75-63
1/5/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan 5, 2003
By Tony Haynes
Raleigh, N.C.--Dazed and confused following an ugly road loss to Massachusetts on Thursday night, the NC State men's basketball team found the perfect cure for its woes: a game against Virginia. The Wolfpack (8-2, 1-0) posted its fifth straight win over the Cavaliers (9-3, 0-1) on Sunday, this time by a final of 75-63. Julius Hodge showed the way for the Pack, posting a double-double with 21 points and 11 rebounds in front of 14, 718 fans at the RBC Center.
But this was a team-win for NC State, a club that was searching for answers following Thursday's debacle in Amherst.
"We had a long talk after the ride home [from Massachusetts] and discussed the things that we needed to do to win," said Wolfpack center Josh Powell, who scored 11 of his 13 points in the second half. "We needed to get back to being energetic on the court, being there for one another and playing hard."
And it was that effort and energy--particularly on the defensive end--that allowed the Pack to end Virginia's six-game winning streak. In a game that featured the usual ACC intensity, NC State didn't back down from the Cavaliers' physical frontline, anchored by All-ACC big man Travis Watson, whose touches inside were limited by the Wolfpack's aggressive post defense. Getting only eight shots from the floor, Watson had to work extra hard to just get 10 points and 12 rebounds.
Powell and Marcus Melvin took their turns at keeping the ball away from the powerful Watson, but it was 6-7 forward Levi Watkins who may have done the best job of staying in front of the burly senior, who had 21 points and 20 boards in Uva's win over Wofford on Thursday. Using his quickness to get around in the post, Watkins' often took away Virginia's number one offensive option by moving his feet. It was that effort that helped NC State build a 29-24 lead at the break after holding the Cavs without a point over the last 3:50 of the opening half.
"Right when we came in the locker room, we were pleased with our first half and the guys were really telling Levi what a great job he had done," said NC State head coach Herb Sendek. "I thought he gave us a great effort, especially in the first half when his defense on Travis Watson was outstanding."
Of course, Virginia coach Pete Gillen saw it another way.
"Travis Watson played 37 minutes, we got him the ball inside and he didn't take a free throw," Gillen remarked. "That's very disappointing. He was telling me, "they're grabbing my arm and they're bumping me.' We shoot 12 free throws and they shoot 27. We got a memo saying they want to cut down the physical play. I thought we were trying to do that. But if it's physical, we've got to adjust."
The free throw disparity, however, is somewhat deceiving given the fact that nine of NC State's free throws came after Virginia started fouling intentionally upon falling behind by 12 points in the last four minutes.
A layup, two free throws and a jumper by Powell ignited an 11-6 run over the first seven minutes of the second half that allowed NC State to open up a 40-30 advantage. After the Wolfpack had moved ahead 46-32 on a layup by Melvin at the 10:40 mark, Virginia came back to cut it to six on a three-point basket by Devin Smith with 6:07 remaining.
But Watkins, who finished with just six points, stuck what may have been the biggest shot of the night, drilling a three-pointer from the right-hand corner to make it 56-47 with 5:32 left. From that point on, the Cavaliers would get no closer than eight points as NC State did a good job maintaining a fairly comfortable advantage by converting at the free throw line.
Joining Hodge and Powell in double-figures were Cliff Crawford (14 points) and Melvin, who finished with nine rebounds to go along with 13 points.
Questionable before the game with a back injury sustained on Thursday night, Crawford showed no ill effects, playing 39 of the 40 minutes. Instead of practicing the last few days, the senior guard spent most of his time undergoing treatment with NC State Director of Sports Medicine Charlie Rozanski.
"Charlie actually went to work on Cliff during the UMass game," Sendek said. "That's why this is a total team effort; everybody has important roles to play. Nobody is any more important than your trainers and your doctors because if guys aren't healthy, you're not the same team."
Smith, a junior college transfer who was 6-of-11 from the floor, led Virginia with 14 points. Guard Todd Billet joined Watson and Smith in double-figures with 10.
After shooting 52 percent in the second half, the Wolfpack made 23-of-49 field goals for the game (46.9), including 9-of-20 from the three-point arc. The Cavaliers were 26-of-65 (40 percent) and made just 4-of-22 from long range. The Pack was also 20-of-27 from the free throw line.
"Before the game I told the men, the way we play today and the way we carried ourselves would make a real statement about our character," said Sendek. "We had a tough week. We didn't play nearly as well as we would like at UMass and we know that. So I told the guys that how we play against a very good team like Virginia would say more about us as people than it would as basketball players. I think the way we came out was a positive reflection of our young guys."
