North Carolina State University Athletics
Gary Hahn's Scouting Report: NC State at Duke
1/14/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 14, 2004
NC STATE (9-2, 2-0) at No. 2 DUKE (12-1, 2-0)
DATE: Thursday, January 15, 2004 @ Cameron Indoor Stadium, Durham, NC (9,314)
TIME: Tip-off: 9:00 p.m. EST
RADIO: Wolfpack Radio Network.
AIRTIME: 8:30 p.m. EST
TELEVISION: Raycom/Jefferson Pilot (ACC Network)
OPPONENT-- Shelden Williams carried Duke past Virginia on Sunday night after spending much of the game on the bench. Williams, who played just seven minutes in the first half, scored 17 of his 21 points after halftime as the Blue Devils cruised to a 93-71 victory in Charlottesville.
The No. 2 Blue Devils had five other players in double figures -- but Williams was the one they went to again and again after Virginia's final run pulled them to 63-51 with 14:15 remaining. The 6-9 sophomore finished 6-for-12 from the field, 9-for-10 from the foul line and grabbed 12 rebounds as Duke enjoyed a 43-30 advantage on the glass. J.J. Redick added 14 points and was 4-for-5 from three-point range. Chris Duhon contributed 15 points while Shavlik Randolph and Luol Deng had 12 each.
An ACC free throw record also fell along with the Cavaliers. Redick broke the league mark for consecutive foul shots made by sinking his only two attempts of the game to run his streak to 50 straight dating back to last season. He broke a tie with former Virginia star Jeff Lamp, who hit 48 in a row in the 1979-80 season.
Virginia (10-3, 0-2) was seeking its third victory in its last four games against Duke at University Hall, but instead lost for the 17th time in the last 19 meetings. Duke led 46-38 at halftime and used a 10-0 burst early in the second half to push its lead to 63-45. Virginia made its final run, but Williams took over inside scoring 13 of Duke's next 15 points and the Cavaliers never got closer than 11 the rest of the way.
Devin Smith led UVA with 19 points, including 5-for-6 shooting from the three-point arc. Elton Brown added 13 points.
Since a 78-68 loss to Purdue in the Great Alaska Shootout, Duke has been dominating. The Blue Devils average margin of victory during their 9-game winning streak has been +27.3, plus Duke has trailed for less than one percent of the total minutes played during that stretch.
Fueled by tremendous ball pressure from its guards and shot blocking inside, Duke has allowed its last 9 opponents an average of only 55.5 points a game and in seven of those contests, opponents just shot 40 percent or less from the field.
For the season, Duke is averaging 10.5 steals a game and 7.3 blocked shots with Williams' 46 blocks leading the ACC while Duhon, a preseason Wooden and Neismith Award candidate, is among the league leaders in steals (2.8) and assists (6.5). The Devils have not been known in recent years as a great rebounding team, but this season have outrebounded 12 of their 13 opponents and hold a +5 overall rebound margin.
Offensively, Duke is balanced with six players averaging at least 9 points a game. Redick is one of the best long-range shooters in the nation and has made 19 of his last 35 three-point shots (.543) over his last 5 games. Junior Daniel Ewing (.393) and Deng (.367) are also good from beyond the arc.
However, Duke does not appear to be relying on the three-point shot as much as it may have in the past. Of Duke's total field goal attempts, 34% come from behind the three-point line compared to 45% for NC State. The improvement of Williams and Randolph along with Deng's presence may have something to do with that.
Deng is an exciting newcomer with great athleticism who has added offense, defense and rebounding to the Duke attack. He's the teams No. 2 scorer and rebounder, averages 29 minutes a game and can play inside or away from the basket.
The last NC State win over Duke was January 22, 2003 in Raleigh. The Wolfpack won 80-71 by shooting 50 percent from the field, holding the Devils to 38 percent shooting and scoring 22 points off turnovers. State also made 25 of 34 free throws in that game. The Pack has not won in Durham since 1995.
A WIN-- Would give the Wolfpack its third straight ACC victory and fifth overall win in-a-row. The Pack would get its first victory over the Blue Devils at Cameron Indoor Stadium since 1995, breaking an 8-game losing streak to the Devils in Durham. NC State would earn its first win over a Top-10 opponent this season and would improve to 10-2 overall, 3-0 in the ACC and 2-2 on the road. The victory would mark the first time NC State has won its first three ACC games since the 1988-89 season and give would coach Herb Sendek his 200th career coaching win.
A LOSS--Would break a four game winning streak for the Wolfpack, dropping NC State to 9-3 overall and 2-1 in the ACC. The Pack would suffer its ninth straight loss to Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium and drop to 1-3 on the road this season.
DIALING LONG DISTANCE-- In its 9 victories, the Pack is shooting 33% from the three-point arc (75-227) while only 27% in its 2 losses (13-48). NC State is 2nd in the ACC in three-point field goals made per game (8.0) with 45 percent of its total field goal attempts coming from three-point range.
ITS BETTER TO GIVE THAN RECEIVE --NC State is averaging an assist on 65% of its field goals, the best mark in the ACC (183-282). In its win over BYU, the Wolfpack had 26 assists on 34 field goals (76%).
IT'S FINE AT THE LINE --NC State has been solid from the free throw line again this season making 77% of its foul shots (154-201). The Pack has made almost as many free throws as its opponents have attempted this season (154-166).
AN "A" GRADE ON "D" --The Pack is holding opponents to a very impressive 58.1 points a game while limiting the opposition to 38% shooting from the field (234-616) and 25% from the three-point arc (50-199). NC State is forcing 17 turnovers a game (187). In its last 7 games, the Pack has averaged 20.7 points a game off opponents turnovers (145).
WOLFPACK PLAYERS TO WATCH
Julius Hodge-- The junior leads the ACC in scoring (18.9) while topping the Wolfpack team in assists (4.5), field goal percentage (.545), and minutes (34.5). He is the team's No. 2 rebounder (7.2) and top offensive rebounder (22). In his last 4 games, Hodge has averaged 20.8 points (83), 7.0 rebounds (28) and 4.8 assists (19) while shooting .617 from the field (29-47) and sinking all 21 of his free throws. A first-team All-ACC selection last season, Hodge was voted first-team All ACC Tournamnent after averaging 19.3 points (58) and 9 rebounds (27) --including a career high 31 points against Wake Forest in the semifinals.
Marcus Melvin--In his last 4 games the versatile senior forward has averaged 14.5 points (58), 7.3 rebounds (29) while shooting 45% from the field (21-47). Melvin is NC State's No. 2 scorer (13.6) and leads the Wolfpack in rebounding (7.5) and blocked shots (1.1). He notched a career high 27 points and 13 rebounds in a win over UW-Milwaukee on 12/7/03. Last season, Melvin was named first-team All-ACC Tournament after averaging 17.3 points (52), 6 rebounds (18) and shooting .515 from the field (17-33) and .473 from the arc (9-19).
Scooter Sherrill--The Pack's No. 3 scorer (10.6), but has struggled at times offensively. The senior guard has been one of the Pack's top three-point shooters throughout his career, but in his last 8games has made just 3-31 shots from bsyond the arc (9%). Sherrill played well in the Pack's win over Virginia on 12/28 with 19 points on 8-14 shooting, but has scored only 14 points in 3 games since then while shooting 3-14 from the field. Last season, he was named to the second-unit of the All-ACC Tournament team after averaging 11.6 points (35) and shooting .500 from the three-point line.
Levi Watkins--The Wolfpack's sixth man is also the team's most improved player. He's shooting .446 from the field (33-74) and .409 from three point-range this season (18-44) which represent the best marks of his career. The junior leads the Wolfpack in three-point field goals made (18) and hit a critical three-pointer late in the win at FSU on 1/11/04 to put the Wolfpack ahead to stay. Watkins was a spark vs. BYU with 7 points, 4 rebounds and career-high 5 assists in only 17 minutes.
Ilian Evtimov--The redshirt sophomore from Bulgaria enjoyed his best overall performance of the season against BYU on 1/7 with 13 points and 5 assists while holding his own defensively against the Cougars 6-11 center Rafael Araujo. No. 2 on the NC State team in assists (3.1), Evtimov has been averaging about 26 minutes a game as he continues to work his way back from a season-ending knee injury suffered early last season. In his last 4 games, Evtimov has averaged 9.5 points (38) and 3.3 rebounds (13) while shooting .519 from the field (14-27).
Engin Atsur--In His last two games, the freshman from Turkey has averaged 10.5 points (21) while shooting .666 from the field (8-12) and has also made some exciting defensive plays. His late second-half strip of the ball from Alexander Johnson helped seal the Pack's win over FSU on 1/11. Atsur has started the Pack's last three games.
