North Carolina State University Athletics
TIM PEELER: Wolfpack Hopes to Make Quick Turnaround
12/30/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 30, 2005
TIM PEELER
RALEIGH - Is it rested vs. weary, or rusty vs. ready?
That will be one of the questions answered at 7 p.m. tonight when No. 19 NC State hosts No. 12 and unbeaten George Washington at the RBC Center, a game that was moved ahead by a day so it would not conflict with the Wolfpack football team's appearance Saturday in the Meineke Car Care Bowl in Charlotte.
The Wolfpack (10-1 overall) is coming off an 81-62 victory Wednesday night over New Hampshire. For Herb Sendek's veteran squad, tonight's game will be fourth since the Dec. 18 ACC-opening victory over Miami. That's a lot of games wrapped around a short Christmas break.
The Colonials (8-0), on the other hand, haven't played a game since Dec. 17, an extended holiday break after the team's hot start.
"Ideally, we would like to have some more time, but our fans are that important to us," Sendek said following Wednesday's win. "We wanted to work it out so they could see both the basketball game and the football game this weekend.
"George Washington comes into the game with much more preparation time than we have. We will just rely on the fans to give us a great lift on Friday night. But it is a quick turnaround, and we have to get ready to play a terrific team."
The Colonials, off to their best start in 52 years, have already beaten one ACC team this season, a 78-70 victory over Maryland on Dec. 5. That certainly has the attention of the Wolfpack players.
"We know that they are a good team that beat Maryland," said Ilian Evtimov, who leads the Wolfpack in scoring at 12.5 points per game. said. "It will be a good test for us and a good test for them."
The game, which will be televised by Fox Sports Net South, is also an opportunity to get some attention for the Wolfpack, which has slowly crept up in the rankings since losing at Iowa on Nov. 30 in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge.
"I think this is a game that is great for our confidence," said junior Engin Atsur, who leads the Wolfpack in assists, steals, 3-point shooting percentage and minutes played. "We can prove to ourselves thaht we really have a good basketball team. We know that George Washington has a great team.
"A win would really help our resume at the end of the year."
You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
