North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State
EA Sports (Exh.)
Hodge Paces Pack in Basketball Exhibition
11/4/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 4, 2003
By Tony Haynes
Raleigh, N.C.--It's the start of a new season, but Julius Hodge was up to his old tricks in NC State's 81-67 exhibition basketball victory over the EA Sports Southeast All-Stars at the RBC Center on Tuesday night. Hodge, a 6-6 junior, recorded a double-double with 28 points and 11 rebounds. His slate included a perfect 10-of-10 performance from the free throw line. The Wolfpack also got 12 points from Scooter Sherrill, and 11 each from forwards Ilian Evtimov and Levi Watkins.
For Evtimov, it was a landmark game that came almost a year to the day that he tore his ACL, a serious knee injury that prevented him from playing all of last season. On Tuesday, he showed very little rust, dishing out four assists and grabbing seven rebounds to go along with a 3-of-5 shooting touch from the field.
"Tonight was kind of a watershed night for the old coach as well because whatever happened tonight couldn't be as bad as what happened a year ago in our first exhibition game," said NC State head coach Herb Sendek. "I was just happy to see Ilian get through tonight because tonight was a big game for him mentally. He's back, he's fearless and he's competing. He was on the floor several times tonight with four steals and tried to draw a couple of charges."
Evtimov and the rest of his teammates were perhaps a little tentative early when the All-Stars hit nine of their first 14 shots to jump out to a 29-19 lead at the 9:39 mark of the opening half. From that point on, however, it was all NC State. Tightening up its man-to-man defense, the Wolfpack went on a 10-0 run to the tie it at 29-29. And when Watkins buried one of his three 3-pointers, the Pack led 32-31. Hodge capped the opening half by hitting his 9th and 10th consecutive free throws, putting NC State up 41-36.
"I think we picked up our defensive pressure," Sendek said. "At the beginning of the game, we were content to let them do whatever they wanted to do. Our overall defensive mindset changed; we had a disposition to get stops."
At the start of the second half, freshman point guard Mike O'Donnell sparked a surge that would help NC State open up a fairly comfortable working margin. O'Donnell, who started the game in the backcourt, opened the second period by drilling a 3-point shot from the left-hand corner. Over the next few minutes, the pesky freshman from Largo, Florida would also come up with a steal and an assist for a layup, draw a charge and knock down another 3-ball to give the Pack a 54-40 advantage with just over 15 minutes remaining.
"I think it was big for him and it really propelled our team tonight," Sendek said when asked about O'Donnell's early second half outburst. "Any time a guy in his first game can get a measure of confidence with a boost like that, it's really good."
Keeping a group of solid shooters and ballhandlers on the floor for much of the game, NC State put together a few really good stretches in the second half, and was often able to carve EA Sports up with some crisp passes and sharp back-cuts that resulted in layups. Fourteen of the Wolfpack's game total of 20 assists came after intermission. Still, there were some lapses that are bound to occur this early in the season.
"We can't turn the ball over 18 times," Sendek said. "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."
The Wolfpack hit 51 percent of its shots from the floor (28-of-55) and was 9-of-20 from the 3-point arc. State was also a steady 16-of-18 from the free throw line. After getting out of the gates quickly, EA Sports cooled off and finished the game 23-of-52 from the field for 44.2 percent. The All-Stars were led by Ajani Williams and Mark Jones, who finished with 13 point apiece.
The Wolfpack had only nine players available for a variety of reasons. Redshirt junior Will Roach will be sidelined for 10-12 days after spraining his ankle during Monday's practice. He's joined on the injury list by guard Cameron Bennerman, who will be out for another month or so with a broken right hand. While he can continue to practice, center Jordan Collins (academics) won't be permitted to play until the end of the first semester. Sendek also said that second-year guard Dominick Mejia will be held out for an indefinite period of time for breaking a team rule.
The crowd of 6,790 included basketball Hall of Famer and current Indiana Pacers President Larry Bird, who was on hand to scout the game.
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