North Carolina State University Athletics
Gary Hahn's Scouting Report: NC State at Virginia
2/6/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 6, 2004
NC STATE (13-5, 6-2) at VIRGINIA (12-7, 2-6)
DATE: Sunday, February 7, 2004 @ University Hall, Charlottesville, VA (8,392)
TIME: Tip-off: 3:00 p.m. EST
RADIO: Wolfpack Radio Network.
AIRTIME: 2:30 p.m. EST
TELEVISION: Raycom-Jefferson Pilot (Regional)
OPPONENT-- John Gilchrist exploded for 26 points Wednesday night at University Hall to lead Maryland past Virginia 71-67. The Terrapins (12-7, 3-5) pulled away with an 11-3 second half run and hung on despite making only 9 of 19 free throws in the last 10 minutes.
Virginia closed within 68-67 on Devin Smith's 3-pointer with 26 seconds left, but Nik Caner-Medley sank 1-of-2 foul shots and D.J. Strawberry stole the ball from Todd Billet with eight seconds left before Gilchrist's rebound basket sealed the game.
Elton Brown led Virginia with 24 points and J. R. Reynolds added 15, but the Cavaliers hurt themselves with 20 turnovers. Maryland shot only 36 percent from the field , but hammered the Cavs 49-38 on the boards and grabbed 24 offensive rebounds. UVA stayed in the game with 6 of 14 three-point shooting.
The Cavaliers used a 10-0 run early in the second half to take a 48-45 lead, but Gilchrist tied it at 50 with his fourth 3-pointer. The teams traded baskets until Caner-Medley scored off his own steal, giving the Terps a 56-54 lead with 9:26 left. Virginia kept the game close, but never got even and dropped into a last-place tie with Clemson in the ACC standings.
Gilchrist, a Virginia native, was taunted by the crowd throughout the first half, but made the fans eat their words. He had 13 of his 21 first-half points in a 23-4 run and ended the half by swishing a 25-footer with three seconds left to give Maryland a 43-36 lead.
After an 8-0 start, Virginia has struggled. The Cavaliers have lost 7 of their last 11 games, including three in-a-row. UVA has allowed nearly 79 points a game during that stretch while being consistently outrebounded. More recently, ball handling has been a problem. Virginia has averaged 19 turnovers in its last six games. Coach Pete Gillen has used several different line-ups, but nothing has worked consistently for any length of time.
Brown has been UVA's most consistent player and has averaged 20 points and 6 rebounds in his last three games. Reynolds has stepped up lately too, averaging 11 points and 2 assists in his last 5-games while forward Derrick Byers appears to be headed out of an offensive slump. He's scored 28 points in his last two games after recording only 12 in the previous 7 outings. Jason Clark's addition to the lineup has added some strength on the boards. Clark had 13 rebounds versus Maryland.
Slumping right now for Virginia are guards Gary Forbes and Billet. Forbes, who was making headlines in December, has averaged 3.6 points in his last five games while Billet, an excellent long-range shooter, has scored in double-figures only twice in his last seven appearances.
In conference games, Virginia is at or near the bottom of the league in scoring defense (78.6), three-point field goal percentage (.309), rebounding margin (-5.3) and turnover margin (-2.75).
On December 28th, NC State routed Virginia 86-69 in Raleigh. The Pack shot 58 percent in the second half and scored 24 points off 18 Cavaliers turnovers. State was on fire from the three-point arc, sinking 11-of-27. Julius Hodge and Scooter Sherrill combined to score 40 points for the Pack
Virginia has played well at home this season (10-3, 2-2) and has won 14 of the last 15 meetings with the Wolfpack at University Hall. The Cavaliers have talent and could be a time-bomb waiting to go off.
A WIN--Would mark the third in-a-row for the Wolfpack and fifth in the last seven games, giving NC State a its second regular season sweep of the Cavaliers in three years and its second win at University Hall in the last three tries. The Pack would improve to 14-5 overall, 7-2 in the ACC and 3-5 away from home with its second straight ACC road win. It would be the Pack's first 7-2 ACC start since the 1988-89 season. That team started conference play with an 8-2 record. State would remain in sole possession of second-place in the ACC standings.
A LOSS--Would break a two-game winning streak and drop NC State to 13-6 overall and 6-3 in the ACC. Virginia would record its second straight victory over the Pack at University Hall and beat State in Charlottesville for the 15th time in the last 16 years. The Cavs also earn a split in the regular season series. The Wolfpack would remain in second-place in the ACC. Virginia would improve to 13-7 overall and 3-6 in the ACC with its 11th victory at home this season against only 3 losses. The Pack would drop to 2-6 away from home.
BIG THREE CLICKING--In its last two games, NC State's top three scorers, Julius Hodge, Marcus Melvin and Scooter Sherrill have combined for an average of 53.5 points (107) while shooting a combined .523 (33-63) from the field.
PACK LEADS NATION --NC State leads the ACC and the nation in free throw shooting making a sensational .796 of its foul shots (265-333). In its last two games against Maryland and Wake Forest, the Pack is 42-48 from the line (.875).
GETTING STOPS --The Pack is holding opponents to a very impressive 62.6 points a game while limiting the opposition to .406 shooting from the field and .274 from the three-point arc overall (.287 in ACC games).
FEASTING ON TURNOVERS --NC State is forcing 16.2 turnovers a game (292). In its last 14 games, the Pack has averaged 17.6 points a game off opponents turnovers (246). In ACC games, State is averaging 13.6 points off turnovers (109).
FINDING THE HANDLE --In its last 2 games (MD & WF), the Wolfpack turned the ball over only 22 times. In the five games prior to that stretch, State averaged 17 turnovers.
BOMBS AWAY-- NC State is averaging 7.7 made three-point field goals made a game with 43 percent of its total field goal attempts coming from 3-point range (428-1000). In its 13 victories, State has shot .335 from the three-point arc (108-322), but only 29% in its 5 losses (31-106). In ACC games the Wolfpack is shooting 34 percent from the arc (64-189).
SHARING THE BALL --NC State is averaging an assist on an impressive 63% of its field goals (286-453). In its win over BYU, the Wolfpack had 26 assists on 34 field goals (76%).
WOLFPACK PLAYERS TO WATCH
Julius Hodge-- This week's ACC Player of the Week is also a candidate for the Wooden Award. In his last two games, Hodge has averaged 23 points, 6 rebounds and 4.5 assists while shooting .516 from the field (16-31) and .929 from the foul line (13-14). The junior had a season-high 28 points and added 9 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals at Maryland on 2/1. Hodge is among the ACC leaders in six catagories. He is second in the league in scoring (17.9), third in field goal percentage (.502), tenth in rebounding (6.3), seventh in assists (4.1), third in free throw percentage (.842), and No. 12 in steals (1.5). In his last 8 games, Hodge has shot .500 from the field (70-140) while sinking 52-55 free throws (.946). 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--Recorded a doubl-double versus Wake Forest with 20 point and 11 rebounds. In his last 4 games, Melvin has averaged 17.0 points (68), 9.8 rebounds (39), and 2.5 assists (10) while shooting 23-42 from the field (.548) and 9-19 from the arc (.474). Recorded a double-double versus Georgia Tech on 1/24 with 18 points and 12 rebounds, including 9 on the offensive boards. Melvin is NC State's No. 2 scorer (13.8) and leads the Wolfpack in rebounding (7.8) and blocked shots (14). He notched a career-high 27 points and 13 rebounds in a win over UW-Milwaukee on 12/7/03. Melvin is the only Wolfpack player to start every game this season and leads the team with 27 three-point field goals.
Scooter Sherrill--The Pack's No. 3 scorer (10.8) and top free throw shooter (.892)scored 16 points versus Wake Forest, including 4 of 5 shooting from the field. In his last 4 games, Sherrill is shooting .500 from the three-point arc (8-16) while over his last 7 games, the senior guard has averaged 10.9 points (76) while shooting .540 from the field (27-50). Sherrill played well in the Pack's win over Virginia on 12/28 with 19 points on 8-14 shooting from the field. Last season, he was named to the second-unit of the All-ACC Tournament team after averaging 11.6 pts. and shooting 50% from the arc.
Levi Watkins--Usually the Pack's sixth man, Watkins has started four games for NC State this season and has been a significant contributor. He's third on the team with 24 three-point field goals and is possibly the Wolfpack's improved long-range shooter. Watkins sank a critical three-pointer late in the win at FSU on 1/11/04 to put the Wolfpack ahead to stay. However, lately the junior has hit a bump in the road. He's only 6-27 from the arc in his last 7 games. He's the team's No. 4 scorer (8.5) and averages 23 minutes a game.
Ilian Evtimov--The skilled, but physical redshirt sophomore from Bulgaria has come off the bench the last four games and continues to be a vital part of the Wolfpack attack. Evtimov was a rebounding machine against Georgia Tech, grabbing a career-high 14 to complement 11 points and 6 assists. No. 2 on the NC State team in assists at 3.1 (56), Evtimov has been averaging about 27 minutes a game as he continues to work his way back from a season-ending knee injury suffered early last season. In his last 11 games, Evtimov has averaged 8.6 points (95) and 4.7 rebounds (52). However, in his last 7 games he is only 3-24 shooting from the three-point arc (.125).
Engin Atsur--Recorded a career-high 16 points on 5-of-8 shooting to spark the Pack's victory at Maryland on 2/1. Atsur scored 12 of his points in the second half on four three-point field goals. He recorded a career-high 6 rebounds in the win over Clemson on 1/17 and had 14 points in the loss at Duke on 6-7 shooting from the field. The freshman from Turkey has started the Wolfpack's last 9 games and has averaged 9.2 points (83) while shooting .490 from the field (27-55) during that stretch. He's 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.
