North Carolina State University Athletics
Wolfpack Ready to Host Red Hot Maryland
3/1/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 1, 2003
By Tony Haynes
Raleigh, N.C.-Nothing impresses the NCAA Tournament selection committee more than quality wins over highly ranked opponents. NC State (15-9, 8-5) will get a chance to face off against such an opponent when it entertains coach Gary Williams' 14th Maryland Terrapins (18-7, 10-4) Sunday night at the RBC Center. Not only would a win provide a boost to the Wolfpack's NCAA Tourney chances, it would also guarantee no worse than a 9-7 finish in conference play.
But in order to grab a marquee victory, NC State will have to beat one of the hottest teams in the country. Just ask North Carolina and Clemson, who last week lost to the Terrapins by a cumulative total of 79 points. And prior to falling at Duke on February 19, Maryland blitzed league leader Wake Forest 90-67. Lopsided scores of that nature aren't supposed to happen in a conference that has the reputation of being balanced this year.
"It is stunning," admitted NC State head coach Herb Sendek when asked about Maryland's recent blowouts. "They're really playing phenomenal basketball right now. They're certainly clicking on all cylinders."
The Terrapins continue to benefit from balance, depth and the consistent excellence of senior point guard Steve Blake, who is just 74 assists shy of becoming just the 4th player in NCAA history reach 1,000 assists for a career. But Blake's impact stretches far beyond his ability to get his teammates involved, as evidenced by his willingness to step up and score more than he has in the past.
NC State knows all to well about Blake's ability to put the ball in the basket. In Maryland's 75-60 triumph over the Wolfpack last month in College Park, he hit all four of his 3-point shots in a 20-point, seven assist performance.
That particular game was dead even before Maryland's pressure defense forced several turnovers that led to a 14-0 run midway through the second half.
"I feel like we were competing the whole game, but they were at home and had a little more of an edge," said Julius Hodge, who leads NC State in scoring with an average of 18.3 points per game. "Obviously, they played better than we did that night. It was a game we had a chance of winning, but it didn't happen that way. Now, we're looking to go out and play a tough game and try to win."
State figures to give Maryland all it wants, especially since the Pack has won 13 of its 14 games at the RBC Center this season. In game one, the Terps converted 21 Wolfpack turnovers into 25 points. And even though NC State has prevailed in two of its last three games, turnovers have continued to be a problem. After turning the ball over 24 times in an 11-point defeat at Duke last Saturday, the Wolfpack tallied another 19 miscues in Tuesday's dramatic overtime win over North Carolina. One of the Pack's primary ball handlers, senior point guard Cliff Crawford, has 13 turnovers over his last two games.
While not sure how many more games his team needs to snag before it can be sure of an NCAA Tournament berth, Sendek knows that beating a team of Maryland's caliber would certainly improve the Wolfpack's chances.
"I don't know what the magic number is, obviously," Sendek said. "At this time the only thing that we can control is making sure we prepare and give our best effort down the homestretch. We have three regular season games and at least one in the ACC Tournament. We want to play as well as we can over those next four guaranteed games."
The all-time series between NC State and Maryland is one of the closest in the league. Heading into Sunday's tilt, the Wolfpack owns a 68-64 advantage even though it has dropped 20 of the last 24 meetings dating back to the 1991-92 season.
