North Carolina State University Athletics
Home Cooking Tastes Perfect to Pack
2/20/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 20, 2004
By Tony Haynes
Raleigh, N.C.-Coach Norm Sloan's last season at NC State also just happened to mark the last time that a Wolfpack team went unbeaten at home. Thanks to a 12-0 record at Reynolds Coliseum, Sloan's 1979-80 squad, led by forward Hawkeye Whitney and guard Clyde "The Glide" Austin, finished 20-8 overall and 9-5 in the ACC, an effort that was good enough for a third place finish in the league. Currently 13-0 at home, the 2003-04 Wolfpack (16-6, 9-3) has a chance to become just the seventh team in NC State history to win all of its home games in a single season.
Teams coached by Sloan posted unblemished home records on three different occasions (1973, 74, 80) and, interestingly enough, those were the only years NC State was able to post perfect marks at Reynolds. Everett Case's Wolfpack was unbeaten at home in both 1947 and 1948 when the games were played at Thompson Gymnasium. NC State's first perfect season at home came in 1926, when the program was headed up by Gus Tebell.
In order to finish with a perfect 16-0 at home, this year's edition of the Wolfpack still has some work to do. With Washington (Sunday at 5:30 p.m.), North Carolina and Maryland coming in, the Pack could certainly be pushed in its final three homes games of the season.
While it will be a non-conference game, Sunday's match-up with the Huskies will be against one of the hottest teams on the west coast. Streaky might be too mild a word to describe Washington, which has won eight of its last nine games since dropping five in a row the first two weeks of January. Among the most recent string of victories, which have certainly brought the Huskies back into NCAA Tournament consideration, was an impressive 96-83 trouncing of then 9th ranked Arizona back on January 29th.
Currently 13-9 overall and 8-6 in Pac-10 play, Washington would certainly add some dramatic polish to its postseason r?sum? by knocking off a high RPI team like 13th ranked NC State on the road. And like a lot of team across the country right now, the Huskies are playing for their tournament lives. The Wolfpack, of course, is another story. With a tournament berth now a forgone conclusion, the Pack must still keep winning in order to secure the highest seed possible in the field of 64.
"Our focus is on NC State," said coach Herb Sendek. "We feel like it's important for us to continue to win. When you get to this point in the season, most teams in the country are hungry for wins. There are only a select number of teams that have such a position where that would not be the case. Everybody is trying to finish as strong as possible, not just Washington, but NC State and everybody else you could think of."
Putting points on the board certainly hasn't been a problem for Washington, which is averaging 81.3 (11th nationally) points per game. Four Huskies are scoring in double-figures led by the 13.6 average being put up by 6-6 forward Brandon Roy. Washington's most talked-about player is also its smallest performer. Like Spud Webb once did at NC State, 5-9 guard Nate Robinson has the ability to play above the rim with his 40-inch vertical leap.
"He's an explosive athlete," Sendek said. "In the Arizona game, he had 31 points. He can really score. He's just a terrific athlete and a very explosive player."
Robinson, who averages 12.2 points per game, is a 37 percent shooter from 3-point range.
If the Huskies have a problem, it's on the defensive end of the floor where their opponents are shooting better than 47 percent from the field and 36 percent from the 3-point arc.
Along with trying to keep its home winning streak alive on Sunday, the Wolfpack will also be looking to come up with a victory on Sendek's 41st birthday. As much as anything else, however, the Pack will be trying to get back on track following Wednesday's night's sluggish looking loss at Clemson.
"I don't think we were sharp," Sendek said. "We had good intentions, we had good concentration and focus going into the game, but it just seemed like the well was dry for us. It was not just our shooting. It was our cutting, our screening and our sharpness. In looking at the tape and taking a step back from the emotion of the night, our guys for much of the night just seemed to be running in place. We had a very emotional game on Sunday night (against Duke) and I thought our guys gave every drop of sweat they had. The challenge for us wasn't so much having our heads in the clouds and getting our feet back down on the ground, but once again to have enough in that tank to play at the level you need to in this league. Some people will look at it and say 'maybe they took the opponent lightly' or 'maybe they got carried away with themselves after the big win.' Neither of those are even remotely close to being true. More than anything, I think our guys had a hard time getting their physical, mental and emotional tanks filled back up again."
On Sunday, NC State hopes to have its emotional tank back to normal, and it won't hurt that all of the tickets for the Washington game have been sold. With fan support growing during its most recent surge, the Wolfpack has certainly been getting a tremendous lift from its 'sixth man' over the last month.
With another win this weekend, the Pack and its fans will be able to keep their hopes alive for a rare season of perfection at the RBC Center.
