North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State
Wake Forest
Big Second Half Pushes Wake Past Pack, 73-58
2/6/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
By Tony Haynes
Winston-Salem, N.C.--Maybe it was the zone defense Wake Forest switched to in the second half. Or, perhaps, it had something to do with the huge rubber bricks the Deacons students were holding above their heads behind the basket. Whatever the case, an NC State shooting drought midway through the second half proved to be the difference on Thursday night at the Joel Coliseum. Led by Josh Howard's 24 points and 12 rebounds, Wake Forest broke open a close game to post a 73-58 victory over the Pack.
With the win, the Deacons (6-2, 16-2) pulled even with Maryland--a loser to Virginia later on Thursday--on top of the ACC standings at the halfway point of the conference season, while NC State dropped into a third place tie with Duke (12-6, 5-3).
Up by four at the break, the Wolfpack was having little trouble scoring against the Wake man-to-man over the first 20 minutes and through the first several minutes of the second half. But the game changed when Deacons coach Skip Prosser switched defenses to a 2-3 zone. After a Julius Hodge layup evened things at 49-49 with 10:57 left, NC State would make only one field goal over the next seven minutes. Wake took advantage by going on a decisive 15-2 run that was culminated with point guard Taron Downey's deep 3-pointer at the end of the shot clock to make it 64-51 with 4:52 remaining.
Against the Wake zone, NC State would make just 1-of-13 3-point shots in the second half. The Pack's two best deep threats--Scooter Sherrill and Marcus Melvin--were a combined 1-for-11 from the arc.
"In our scheme of things, it's important for those guys to knock down shots," said Wolfpack head coach Herb Sendek. "You've got to score. The old adage that defense wins is true, and we could have played better defense tonight. But we didn't put the ball in the basket in the second half."
Hitting only 2-of-5 shots for four points in the opening half, Howard often took over after intermission, making 6-of-8 shots for 20 of his game-high 24 points. The Deacons also got 16 points from bruising freshman Eric Williams, 12 from Towney and 11 from Jamaal Levy. Wake Forest knocked down 60.9 percent of its shots in the second half and hit 56.3 percent for the game.
Playing in his hometown, senior guard Cliff Crawford led the Wolfpack with 19 points and six rebounds. Hodge added 13 points and Levi Watkins chipped in with 11--all in the first half. Sherrill was scoreless, while Melvin--NC State's second leading scorer--finished with only five as the Wolfpack shot only 38.9 percent for the game.
"I think it was a good decision for them to go zone," Crawford said. "Obviously, it worked in their favor. They did the job on us coming down the stretch in the second half."
And it was during that stretch run that Wake Forest broke open a game that looked like it might go down to the last shot over the first 30 minutes. The momentum certainly seemed to change when NC State started to come up empty against the zone.
"In the first half, they were much more the aggressor and we were sort of like Ali against the ropes," Prosser said. "We just tried to come out with a more aggressive attitude in the second half. I'm proud of our guys; they figure out a way."
Wake has been figuring out a way to beat NC State for a while now. The Deacs win was their seventh straight overall and sixth in a row over the Pack at the Joel Coliseum.
