North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State
Michigan
Wolfpack Denied By Michigan, 68-61
12/2/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 2, 2003
By Tony Haynes
Ann Arbor, MI--NC State, a team made up of versatile, interchangeable players with above average ball-handling skills, was expected to do a good job of taking care of the basketball this season, So far, however, that hasn't been the case. On Tuesday night in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, 19 Wolfpack turnovers resulted in 20 points for Michigan, which went on to down the Pack 68-61. Sophomore point guard Daniel Horton had 16 points and Dion Harris added 14, leading the Wolverines to their fourth straight win without a loss. NC State suffered its first defeat to fall to 3-1.
"We're very pleased," said Michigan head coach Tommy Amaker. "Anytime you're undefeated with the way college basketball is right now, that says a lot. I think out kids are excited about where we are right now and the direction of our program. Certainly, this was a big night for us."
Tall, athletic and quick, the Wolverines often stifled the Wolfpack with a sticky, overplaying man-to-man defense that not only forced turnovers, but led to numerous rushed shots as well. Shooting 43 percent for the game overall (22-of-51), State was just 7-of-27 from 3-point range.
Following an Ilian Evtimov 3-point basket on an out-of-bounds play to narrow Michigan's lead down to just 39-38 with 14:36 left, the Wolfpack would go nearly 10 minutes without a field goal, a drought that helped the Wolverines move in front by as many as 11 points on two occasions.
And when the Pack wasn't shooting blanks from the field during key stretches of both halves, it was turning the ball over, miscues that often led to easy baskets for Michigan on the other end of the floor.
"The inability to take care of the basketball was our undoing," said NC State head coach Herb Sendek. "The turnovers led to countless easy baskets for Michigan and it's really difficult to score when you don't get shots. We're too skilled a team to allow pressure to cause us to turn the basketball over like that."
Between them, Julius Hodge and Marcus Melvin turned the ball over a total of 11 times. Melvin had a tough night all the way around, making only 2-of-7 shots for seven points. Hassled most of the game by Michigan defensive ace Bernard Robinson, Hodge did finish with 25 points by hitting 10-of-16 from the field. But 13 of Hodge's points came over the last few minutes when the Wolfpack was frantically trying to fight back. NC State did get as close as four points when Scooter Sherrill drilled a long 3-pointer with 21 seconds left, but Michigan sealed it my making its free throws down the stretch.
NC State quickly got a taste of the type of defense it would see most of evening when Michigan came out aggressively and scored the first seven points of the game. Amaker, a former Duke guard and assistant coach, had his Wolverines take a page right out of the Blue Devils' defensive playbook by pressuring the ball and getting out in the passing lanes.
Down 7-0 two minutes into the game, NC State settled down following a Sendek timeout and went on a spurt of its own. Rapid fire 3-point bombs by Scooter Sherrill, Mike O'Donnell, Levi Watkins and Engin Atsur sparked an 18-2 run that gave the Wolfpack an 18-9 lead with 12:42 remaining in the opening half.
But after a Hodge basket in close put NC State ahead 27-24, the Pack went scoreless for the last 3:23 of the opening half to lose its lead and the momentum. And again, the culprit was a series of turnovers that helped Michigan turn a deficit into a 33-27 lead at the break.
"We gave them momentum going into the half with some ill-advised decision making," Sendek said. "That doesn't cause you to lose the game...we still had 20 minutes left and we were down only six points. We had plenty of opportunities to still win the game."
On a night when they shot just 40.7 percent (22-of-54), the Wolverines relied on their defense and rebounding to give the Big Ten its first win of this year's challenge. Along with converting NC State turnovers into points, Michigan outrebounded the Pack 39-30 and owned a fairly overwhelming 13-5 edge on the offensive glass.
Joining Horton and Harris in double figures for the Wolverines were Robinson and Lester Abram, who had 10 points apiece. Forward J.C. Mathis, a transfer from Virginia, came off the bench to grab nine rebounds in 23 minutes.
Sherrill, who was the only other NC State player in double figures with 14 points, was at a loss afterwards to explain how a team with so many capable ball-handlers could be turning the ball over so much.
"That's something we've got to cut out," Sherrill said. "This team is too experienced and we have too many ball-handlers to be turning the ball over consistently like this. This hurts, especially knowing we lost by seven with 19 turnovers."
