North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State
George Washington
Pack Dominates 12th Ranked George Washington
12/30/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 30, 2005
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- An incredibly stingy defense. A nearly perfect balance of scoring from the paint and the perimeter.
In short, another solid effort from No. 19 North Carolina State. The only surprising thing might have been the opponent.
Cameron Bennerman led five players in double figures with 17 points, Cedric Simmons got his second career double-double and the Wolfpack easily gave No. 12 George Washington its first loss of the season, 79-58 on Friday night.
Simmons had 14 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks and point guard Engin Atsur tied a career high with nine assists for N.C. State (11-1), which gave coach Herb Sendek the best start of his nine-year tenure. The best field goal percentage defense in Division I held the Colonials (8-1) to 31 percent, by far their worst effort of the season.
Carl Elliott had 14 points for George Washington, and leading scorer Danilo Pinnock finished with 11, about five points below his average. Transfer Regis Koundjia, finally eligible after arriving from LSU, had nine points before fouling out in his debut.
Perhaps a 12-day layoff might explain part of the Colonials' problems, but the Wolfpack did their part, too. It was their first home victory over a ranked, non-conference opponent since Feb. 8, 1986, when they beat No. 16 Louisville 76-64 under coach Jim Valvano.
The Wolfpack held George Washington without a field goal for an 8 1/2 -minute stretch of the first half to take control, even while their offense was struggling. Atsur's 3 gave N.C. State a 23-12 lead midway through the opening 20 minutes, then had his team's next points on a layup about 5 1/2 minutes later.
But it hardly mattered since the Colonials couldn't find the range, either.
Elliott made a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to seven, and it was still there until Andrew Brackman swished a jumper from beyond the arc after a nice pass from Atsur. Ilian Evtimov finished up the scoring before the break with two free throws, putting the Wolfpack ahead 34-22.
It quickly got worse for George Washington in the second half. Evtimov worked in the paint for one of his patented old-fashioned hook shots, and Bennerman converted a nifty lob from Atsur into a layup. On the other end, Pops Mensah-Bonsu finally got loose for only his second basket of the game, but Colonials coach Karl Hobbs thought there might have been a foul on the play, too.
He protested vehemently and promptly got a technical, turning the momentum over to N.C. State. Evtimov made both shots from the line and Brackman worked inside to score, making it 50-32. The margin reached 19 when Gavin Grant swished a 3 from the wing, and George Washington could only get as close as 12 the rest of the way.
Atsur punctuated the surprisingly easy victory with another 3-pointer with 3 1/2 minutes left to give the Wolfpack a 71-51 lead.
