North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State
Howard
No. 25 NC State Handles Howard, 71-51
11/25/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov 25, 2003
By Tony Haynes
Raleigh, N.C.--Before they feast on some Thanksgiving turkey on Thursday, NC State's players figured Tuesday would be a good time to feast on some turnovers. Forcing eight miscues over the first 10 minutes, the 25th ranked Wolfpack jumped out to an early 11-point lead and never looked back in a 71-51 victory over Howard in front of 10,533 at the RBC Center. Getting 17 points from senior guard Scooter Sherrill, 15 from junior Julius Hodge and 11 from redshirt sophomore Ilian Evtimov, the Pack improved its record to 2-0 on the young season by holding the Bison to just 35 percent shooting.
Scoring 18 points off of 18 Howard turnovers, NC State turned up the heat on the defensive end, which led to some easy opportunities in transition, especially during a key 10-2 spurt midway through the first half that left the Pack with a 21-10 lead with 7:49 remaining.
Intense and active, NC State's man-to-man defense took away passes to the post and dribble penetration, while also preventing Howard forward James Wilkinson - an 18 points per game scorer coming in - from getting many open looks at the basket.
"They were starting to argue with each other about things they were trying to do against our defense," Sherrill said when asked about Howard's frustration level in the first half. "We're really jumping on teams defensively at the start. I'm kind of disappointed the way we started the second half with our defense. We've got to have a killer instinct. If we go up by 20 in the first half, we have to extend it to 40 or 50."
After holding UNC Asheville to just 11 points at halftime in its opener on Friday night, NC State continued its stubborn ways on Tuesday, yielding only 21 points in the first half. And, the Wolfpack played great defense without fouling. The Bison didn't shoot its first free throw until Darryl Hudson stepped to the line with just 50 seconds remaining in the game. NC State, the ACC's top free throw shooting team last year, was 18-of-21 from the stripe.
Most of the Wolfpack's best offensive stretches came in transition following turnovers and missed shots. Hodge, who dished out seven assists to go along with eight rebounds, led the break, often beating Howard down the floor. And when the 6-7 swingman wasn't finding open 3-point shooters, he was slashing to the basket himself.
"I thought his effort was tremendous and I liked the way he was pushing the ball up the floor for us," said NC State head coach Herb Sendek. "You want a player like Julius to have some freedom. He'll make some plays and cause some things to happen that you don't draw up in a playbook. You don't want to overly harness a guy who has that kind of ability."
Evtimov, who didn't score in his official return from last year's season-ending knee injury on Friday, came back to reach double figures to go along with six rebounds on Tuesday.
"I think his confidence is important," Sendek said. "Coming back from the injury that he had, each thing that he's able to do well is going to be an important building block. It was great to see him hit that three in the first half, he was perfect at the foul line (6-of-6) and made a great backdoor pass in the second half."
Evtimov brought the crowd to its feet with a gorgeous bounce pass to Sherrill on a back-cut that gave the Wolfpack a 61-37 advantage with 8:34 left. Sherrill, who was 6-of-8 from the floor, opened the second half by scoring eight straight points on two free throws and a pair of 3-point baskets as the Pack continued to pad its lead.
Although he scored only four points, sophomore Cameron Bennerman often spearheaded the NC State defense by bothering Louis Ford, Howard's lightning quick 5-6 point guard, who got most of his 13 points in the second half. With Cliff Crawford now gone, Bennerman might be the best candidate to become the Wolfpack's next defensive stopper in the backcourt. On Tuesday, he played a career-high 26 minutes.
"He brings us a lot of energy," Sherrill said of Bennerman. "I see Cam play everyday. He just has so much energy. He's a great offensive and defensive rebounder and he's going to bring a lot to this team."
NC State shot 42.9 percent from the floor (21-49), but was a fairly effective from 3-point range, knocking down 11-of-25. The Wolfpack did lose the battle of the boards 38-33 and gave up 15 2nd chance points on 14 offensive rebounds.
Along with Ford, Aluko Seye (11 points) and Wilkinson (10) reached double figures for Howard, which fell to 1-2.
