NC State
Boston College
Boston College Edges NC State in OT, 66-65
1/20/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 20, 2004
By Tony Haynes
Boston--For NC State, it will be painfully remembered as a night of missed opportunities. Given every chance to come away with a precious road win Tuesday night at Boston College, the Wolfpack finally ran out of opportunities in a 66-65 overtime loss to the Eagles. Getting 20 points and 10 rebounds from star forward Craig Smith, Boston College (13-4) finally slammed the door shut when guard Sean Marshall drilled a pair of free throws with just five seconds remaining in the extra period. The loss, NC State's fourth in five road games, dropped the Wolfpack to 10-4.
And while Marshall's free throws eventually sealed the outcome, the Pack may have been done in again by its futility on the offensive end of the court. The scoring droughts and turnovers that haunted NC State in earlier road defeats at South Carolina and Michigan, reared their ugly heads once again on Tuesday. And this time, they showed up at the worst possible time.
After Hodge made a driving layup and free throw to give his team a 57-55 lead with 4:10 remaining in regulation, NC State would not get another field goal until Hodge drained a meaningless 3-point shot just before the horn to end the overtime period.
By then, however, it was too late.
"We just didn't value each possession the way they needed to be valued in a game like this," said Wolfpack head coach Herb Sendek. "From that standpoint, it is frustrating."
Hodge, who scored 21 of his 25 points in the second half, basically became a one-man band over the last 10 minutes. Amazingly, Levi Watkins was the last Wolfpack player other than Hodge to score from the field when he knocked down a 3-point basket to give the Pack a 50-43 advantage with 10:37 remaining.
After that, it was Julius Hodge or nothing.
From the time Hodge scored to put NC State ahead by two with just over four minutes to play until his desperation heave at the end of overtime, the Wolfpack would miss seven straight shots and turn the ball over six times. The Pack finished with 19 turnovers, 10 of which were charged to frontcourt starters Ilian Evtimov and Marcus Melvin.
Melvin, who was averaging better than 13 points per game coming in, took just five shots and finished with eight points to go along with 12 rebounds and five turnovers. Evtimov was just 2-of-8 from the floor with five rebounds and five turnovers.
"You've got to credit Boston College. I thought they did a good job on defense," said Sendek. "We ended up with 19 turnovers. In each of our road losses, turnovers have mounted on us."
Yet, despite its long end of game scoring drought, NC State still had a chance to win after Boston College blew several easy scoring opportunities inside and missed some key free throws to keep it close.
After a rebound basket by Uka Agbai gave the Eagles a 61-57 lead with 1:15 remaining in regulation, NC State pulled to within two when Evtimov made a pair of free throws with 51 seconds left. The Wolfpack then got even when reserve center Jordan Collins - shooting the two biggest free throws of his career - calmly hit two more with 22 seconds left to make it 61-61.
Boston College still had a chance to win it with a last shot, but Smith missed a 15-foot jumper from the right wing with three seconds left to send the game into overtime.
But when given a second chance at victory, NC State couldn't cash in, primarily because its offensive problems continued through the extra period. After Engin Atsur and Evtimov missed 3-point shots on the NC State end, B.C. went up 64-62 on a jumper by Jared Dudley.
Then things really got crazy as the two teams went better than two minutes without scoring. On four straight possessions, the Pack had three turnovers and a missed shot by Hodge. Boston College, however, was just as generous when Smith and Marshall blew easy layups to keep NC State's pulse alive.
The Eagles finally extended their lead with 17 seconds remaining in overtime when Dudley made one of two free throws to make the score 65-62. Knowing his team needed a 3-point basket to tie, Sendek held up three fingers as Hodge brought the ball up the court. Choosing instead to drive, Hodge pulled up with a 12-foot jumper on the left baseline that was blocked. Scooter Sherrill then fouled Marshall, who clinched it with two free throws on the other end.
"Julius was attacking and I certainly don't fault him at all, but we needed to take a 3 in that situation," Sendek said.
Hodge, who missed all four of his field goal attempts in the opening half when NC State went to the locker room at intermission trailing 27-26, scored 21 of the Wolfpack's 35 points in the second half and overtime, and all but five over the last 15 minutes. Watkins was the only other Pack player to reach double figures with 11.
Boston College, meanwhile, had more balance, getting 14 from Dudley, 13 from Agbai and 12 from Marshall in addition to the scoring efforts of Smith. The Eagles, who shot 38.8 percent from the floor, helped themselves a great deal by scoring 18 points on 18 offensive rebounds.
For the game, NC State was 24-of-60 from the floor for 40 percent and hit just 6-of-21 from 3-point range.
