North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State Faces St John's in Festival Title Game
12/29/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 29, 2004
By Tony Haynes
New York - After being forced to work a little harder than some expected in a 10-point victory over Columbia on Tuesday night, 17th ranked NC State (10-1) will be shooting for the championship of the annual Holiday Festival on Thursday evening at Madison Square Garden (8:30 pm). The Wolfpack's opponent, St John's (5-4), has a fairly glorious history in the Garden and usually likes to refer to the building as it home away from home. The Red Storm advanced to the title game with a fairly impressive 71-51 triumph over Canisius.
When it takes the floor against the Pack, St. John's will be making its 590th all-time appearance at the Garden, a number that's second only to the venue's prime basketball tenant, the NBA's New York Knicks.
Tuesday's win upped the Red Storm's Garden record to 363-226. Since the 1999-2000 campaign, that mark stands at 38-21.
And although the match-up will officially be described as a `neutral court' affair, it's pretty clear that NC State will be met with hostile conditions that would be better associated with a road game.
In order to come away with its 11th win of the season on Thursday, the Wolfpack will have to deal with St. John's dynamic duo of Lamont Hamilton and Daryll Hill, a twosome that accounted for 44 points in the win over Canisius.
Hamilton, a physical 6-9, 238-pound sophomore from Brooklyn, will likely be the best post player NC State has faced to this point in the season.
Although small (6-0, 167), Hill is lightning quick off the dribble and thanks to his driving ability, does a tremendous job of getting to the free throw line. And when he gets there, he rarely missed. Hill, who averages 17.9 points per game to lead St. John's, has made 40-of-46 free throws (87 percent) this season.
Not only will NC State be facing a hungry St. John's club on Thursday, it will also have to deal with some physical ailments once again. Guard Tony Bethel has been under the weather the last few days, while forward Levi Watkins played only four minutes on Tuesday because of a thigh bruise sustained in practice on Monday.
The good news for the Wolfpack is that guard Engin Atsur has apparently rebounded from a recent shooting slump. The sophomore from Turkey hit four big 3-pointers in the second half of the game against Columbia and scored all 17 of his points in the second half.
