North Carolina State University Athletics
Wolfpack Sets New ACC Mark for Free Throw Shooting
3/23/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 23, 2004
By Tony Haynes
Raleigh, N.C. - When the ACC updates its all-time men's basketball record book this off-season, it will enter a new team under the category of "best free throw percentage for a team." That team, the 2003-2004 NC State Wolfpack, will go down as the best free throw shooting team in league history after hitting 79.9 percent of its attempts this past season. In setting a new mark, the Wolfpack broke a record that was notched 26 years ago when Duke's 1978 Final Four team shot 79.1 percent from the stripe.
With its stellar accuracy from the line this season, the Pack also led the ACC in free throw shooting for the third consecutive year, something that hasn't been done since Wake Forest pulled it off from 1993-95.
For the season, NC State converted on 481-of-602 attempts and hit a deadly 81.9 percent of its free throws in ACC games.
Redshirt sophomore Ilian Evtimov, who made 46 of his last 49 from the line, finished as the Wolfpack's top free throw shooter, hitting 87.6 percent (78-of-89) for the year. Regulars Scooter Sherrill (.850), Julius Hodge (.828) and Marcus Melvin (.813) also hit better than 80 percent of their free throws.
Hodge, by far, got to the line more than any other Pack player, toeing the stripe 192 times and making 159 of those tosses in 31 games. The ACC Player of the Year also led NC State in scoring (18.2 ppg.), field goal percentage (.507), assists (112), blocks (25) and steals (43).
The Wolfpack's top rebounder was Melvin, who snagged an average of 8.1 boards per game to go along with his scoring average of 14.3 points per contest. The senior from Fayetteville was also No. 1 on the team in 3-point field goals made with 59.
Freshman guard Engin Atsur, an All-ACC Rookie Team pick, connected on 38.3 percent (46-of-120) of his 3-point field goal attempts to lead NC State in that category.
