North Carolina State University Athletics
Wolfpack Faces Final Exhibition Tune-up on Tuesday
11/10/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 10, 2003
By Tony Haynes
Raleigh, N.C.-The NC State men's basketball team will get in its final live dress rehearsal for the upcoming season on Tuesday night when it hosts the Global Sports All-Stars at the RBC Center. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. In its first exhibition game last Tuesday night, the Wolfpack recovered from a sluggish start to defeat EA Sports, 81-67. Not surprisingly, NC State was led by All-ACC swingman Julius Hodge, who tallied a double-double with 28 points and 11 rebounds.
The fact that Hodge has impressed his teammates and coaches this preseason is really no surprise. But another player who has emerged as a force early in his junior campaign is forward Levi Watkins. Sidelined most of his freshman season by a torn ACL, Watkins served mostly as a sixth man last year, averaging 5.6 points, 2.5 rebounds and 21.4 minutes per game.
Through the early stages of this preseason, however, the 6-8 forward from Rockville, Maryland appears to be coming into his own as a player on both ends of the floor. After leading the entire team with 15 points in the annual Red/White game a few weeks ago, Watkins came back to post 11 points and three assists in last week's exhibition. In the two games, he has hit 6-of-10 shots from 3-point range.
His teammates certainly aren't startled by Watkins' early success; in the NC State media guide, many of the players voted him as the Wolfpack player who was most likely to surprise a lot of people this season.
Based on his comments following last week's exhibition, NC State head coach Herb Sendek will be keeping a close eye on defensive intensity and turnovers on Tuesday. Against EA Sports, the Pack seemed a step slow on defense over the first 10 minutes when it fell behind 29-19. Once it picked up its aggressiveness on the defensive end of the court, NC State turned the game around, going on a 30-9 run at one juncture. But by the end of the night, the Wolfpack also had 18 turnovers against a team that wasn't exactly getting out in the passing lanes and pressuring the ball.
"We can't turn the ball over 18 times," Sendek said afterwards. "For this team to be at its best, it has to be a low turnover team. Eighteen turnovers against the defense we faced was not what we were looking for. But that will come down. I think we'll eventually be a team that takes really good care of the basketball."
Heading into its 7th game against East Tennessee State on Monday night, Global Sports is 2-4 on its current tour. In its most recent outing, Global was whipped by Florida State, 83-68. The All-Stars' two victories to this point have come over LSU ((68-64) and Southern Mississippi (79-60).
Chris Davis, a 6-6 guard from North Texas, is averaging 14 points per game to lead Global Sports. Davis had 19 against the Seminoles on Saturday.
