North Carolina State University Athletics
No. 21 NC State Looks to Derail Top Ranked Duke
2/14/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 14, 2004
By Tony Haynes
Raleigh, N.C.-When asked to put into perspective what Duke has accomplished over the last five years, a period during which the Blue Devils have won a national title and five ACC Tournament championships, NC State head coach Herb Sendek took a deep breath. How do you properly put into a perspective the feats of a program that has continued to dominate during an era when college basketball has been more balanced than ever before? That, according to Sendek, is what makes Duke's recent success even more impressive.
"Sometimes it's easier to see things when you have the chance to look back and put them in a historical context, and you don't realize the full magnitude as they're happening," Sendek said. "In some respects, that will be true with what Duke has done here recently. They've been so good and so dominant that it would be almost impossible to give them enough praise and enough credit. Probably short of what UCLA accomplished with its seven straight titles, the run that they've been on has been remarkable."
That's quite a perspective.
Duke's pregame press release runs down the litany of records, streaks and successes coach Mike Krzyzewski's Blue Devils have recorded, not only during his career, but over the last several years as well.
Here's a sampling: Duke has won 20 of its last 24 games against ranked teams; It has prevailed in 67 of its last 76 games against teams from North Carolina; the Blue Devils have won 15 consecutive ACC Tournament games since 1999.
The list of superlatives goes on and on and on.
This season, the Blue Devils have won 18 straight games since losing to Purdue in the championship game of the Great Alaska Shootout in late November. That roll has helped them build a 21-1 record overall and a 10-0 mark in the ACC.
"They're clearly deserving of the number one ranking right now," said Sendek, whose Wolfpack sits alone in second place in the league standings with an 8-2 mark. "When you watch them on tape, it's not like it's possible to identify any weaknesses."
Sendek and the Pack will try to prove that premise wrong when it hosts Duke Sunday night at the RBC Center. Tip-off time is 6:30 p.m.
NC State certainly got a taste of Duke's muscle a month ago when it staggered out of Cameron Indoor Stadium saddled with a 76-57 loss. Done in by 20 turnovers and poor shot selection, the Wolfpack was out of it by halftime, when it was already down 42-25.
"It was a bad night," said NC State senior guard Scooter Sherrill. "We felt like we didn't play up to our abilities. We didn't play that hard and we weren't knocking down shots. I wish I could sit here and say we played well, but we didn't. We can't have those excuses come Sunday. Everybody has to come ready to play and everybody has to give 110 percent. Hopefully, we can hit some shots and guard them defensively."
Guarding Duke will certainly be a challenge. Four of five Blue Devil starters are scoring in double-figures, led by guard J.J. Redick's average of 16.9 points per game.
Defensively, Duke is holding its opponents to just 60.9 points per game and 38.8 percent shooting from the floor. Renowned for their man-to-man defense over the years, the Blue Devils have been particularly stingy this season thanks in part to the shot-blocking prowess of Shelden Williams (76 blocks, No. 1 in the ACC), Shavlik Randolph (38) and freshman Luol Deng (24).
"The shot blocking ability adds a great deal to their defensive package," Sendek said. "Shelden Williams has been almost like a hockey goaltender at the net. Even when teams apparently have a basket in the making or they're close to scoring, the next thing you know the ball is going in the other direction on a Duke fast break. It's not just Shelden Williams. If you expand that one step further, they're always slapping and reaching and getting their hands on balls around the basket with their other players. So even when you penetrate their defense to the point where you're right there on top of a score, they still negate a large number of those, not only with the shot blocking of Williams, but with the activity of their other players."
Although Duke has won 29 of the last 33 games in the series and three in a row, the Wolfpack did down the Blue Devils the last time the two clubs met at the RBC Center a year ago. Then later in the ACC title game, NC State led by as many as 15 points in the second half before the combination of foul trouble and Redick's incredible shooting display doomed the Wolfpack's hopes down the stretch.
Were it not for Duke's excellence this season, NC State would be viewed as the hottest team in the ACC. Having won six of its last seven conference games and four in a row overall, the Pack is in the midst of its best league showing since the late 1980s.
"State's had a great year and so have we," Krzyzewski said. "We know that the atmosphere will be terrific and their team has played well everywhere. They've been the other team in the league that's had a winning road record. But at home, they've gotten tremendous support. With Hodge, Melvin and Scooter Sherrill, they've been through a lot of wars. We're going to have to play very well to have a chance to beat them."
According to Sherrill, NC State's experience of playing in two straight ACC Tournament championship games and NCAA Tourney games over the last few years should help the Pack deal with the 'big game' atmosphere that will no doubt be present on Sunday.
"We've played in big games like this before, so having that experience is really going to be helpful," Sherrill said. "There are going to be a lot of runs in the game on their end and our end. We've just got to stay poised and stay focused."
NC State is paced by junior Julius Hodge, a conference player of the year candidate who is averaging 18.3 points and 6.4 rebounds per game. The Wolfpack is also getting 13.8 points and 7.9 rebounds per contest per contest from senior forward Marcus Melvin.
Lately, however, the Pack has been spurred on by the improved play of freshman guard Engin Atsur, who has averaged 13 points over his last four games, while knocking down 55 percent of his 3-point shots.
"He's a real smart player," Krzyzewski said. "He's a real easy guy to play with because he doesn't take that many shots but when he takes them, he usually hits them. Defensively, maybe he wouldn't win a lot of foot races with a lot of guys, but he's so alert and smart that he's always going in the right direction. This kid knows how to play. With his international experience, he's not playing like a freshman."
Duke, which has won five ACC regular season titles since the 1996-97 season, will virtually wrap up a sixth first place finish with a win on Sunday. A victory by NC State, however, would leave the Wolfpack just one game behind the Blue Devils in the standings and insure that there will at least be some drama over the last three weeks of the season.
