North Carolina State University Athletics
TIM PEELER: Atsur Bounces Back
12/28/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 28, 2005
TIM PEELER
RALEIGH - In the five games since one of the worst performances of his career, NC State junior guard Engin Atsur has taken control of the Wolfpack's floor game.
He did it again Wednesday night in the No. 19 Wolfpack's 81-62 victory over New Hampshire in the RBC Center, the steady leader had the team's first basket, first assist, first rebound and first steal, helping his team jump out to a 9-0 lead.
He finished the game with a team-high 15 points, with five assists, only one turnover and two steals, yet another consistent performance in a game in which Herb Sendek was disappointed at his team's lack of focus in the second half.
"Engin is emerging as a guard that really runs our team," said teammate Ilian Evtimov. "He is making great passes, he is pushing the ball in transition, he is playing great defense.
"In my opinion, he is the best point guard in the ACC."
But in the Wolfpack's lone loss this season, a 45-42 setback at Iowa, Atsur was uncharacteristically rattled. He had five turnovers and no assists and was held to just four points, his lowest total of the season.
Since then, however, the native of Istanbul, Turkey, has been outstanding, on offense and on defense. Wednesday night, he had his fourth consecutive double-digit scoring effort and is averaging 11.2 points per game, just behind team-leading Evtimov (12.2) and Cedric Simmons (11.3). He has had 27 assists and only five turnovers in the Wolfpack's last five games.
He continues to lead the Wolfpack in assists (49), steals (21), 3-point shooting percentage (45.3) and minutes played (30.2). He is also second on the team with 64 deflections.
"I don't know if there was any amazing lesson in the Iowa game that Engin learned," Sendek said. "He was pretty advanced and savvy before that game. He just had one of those games. He didn't play well in that game, but he bounced back and has played very, very well since."
Atsur said losing to the Hawkeyes was a "wake-up call," for the team and for him personally, and he has tried not to repeat his mistakes of that night.
"We learned a lot of things as a team," Atsur said. "We have played much better defense. We keep pushing the ball every game. We have looked for each other and been really unselfish.
"I think now we realize how good we can be. We are pushing our limits every game."
You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
