North Carolina State University Athletics
Home Sweet Home? NC State Hosts Maryland
2/15/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 15, 2005
By Tony Haynes
Raleigh, N.C. - NC State will play four of its last five games at home. Given the fact that the Wolfpack had won 67 of 85 games under the roof of the RBC Center prior to this season, that would, on the surface, sound like good news. But since conference play started in early January, the Pack's home court advantage has been anything but an advantage. Starting with a loss to West Virginia on January 2, NC State has dropped four of five home games. It's a trend the Wolfpack will hope to end when Maryland visits the RBC on Wednesday night at 9:00 p.m.
Oddly enough, the Pack has played some of its best basketball on the road over the last month and a half. Sunday night's 53-51 win at Georgia Tech was NC State's third victory in its last five league games away from home.
And though it's common for most teams to shoot the ball a little better at home, this year's Wolfpack has actually found the rims in road venues to be more accommodating in ACC games. In six conference road games, the Pack is averaging more than nine 3-point baskets per contest. On the flip side, shots from the arc haven't been falling as frequently at the RBC Center, where NC State is averaging just 6.8 per game.
Some would suggest that the Wolfpack's shooting suffers in its home arena because it rarely practices there. But it should also be noted, however, that the Pack practices even less at the road arenas in which it has shot the ball well.
If nothing else, NC State is quite familiar with the routine of playing away from home since 11 of its last 16 games have been on foreign floors.
"I feel like we've been the Globetrotters," Wolfpack head coach Herb Sendek cracked. "We finished with four of our last five non-conference games on the road, then we turned around with the first part of the ACC schedule had us playing a disproportionate number on the road. I can't remember too many times, if any, where a team has had to play a bracket of games like six out of eight on the road. It will be nice to finish with four games at home, although we have to play better at the RBC. We've already dropped too many games there and we have some very, very good teams coming in on the horizon. Being at home won't be enough; we'll have to be at home and we'll have to play exceptionally well."
NC State played exceptionally well the last time it met Maryland. Back on January 23rd at the Comcast Center in College Park, the Wolfpack blew out to a 31-13 lead at one point in the first half before settling for an 85-69 victory. Among other things, NC State drilled 10 of its 12 3-point field goals in the first half that day.
Maryland couldn't keep up, often looking helpless to stop a Wolfpack offense that was hitting on all cylinders.
"The first time we played State we didn't have to worry about that because we didn't play any defense," said Terrapins coach Gary Williams. "They're really good at what they do. State's tough to play against because they can run the clock and they're not afraid to take a shot as the shot clock winds down. But if you relax early, they'll hit you with a quick three or backdoor cut. They do a great job of reading the defense. If you do make a mistake, then it's up to them to find the open guy. Sometimes when you make mistakes against certain teams, they don't pick you apart. State does a good job of that."
Coming off a big home win over Duke on Saturday night, Maryland has won three of its last five, but has gone just one and five in league games away from the Comcast Center. There is one thing that has become quite apparent: As point guard John Gilchrist goes, so go the Terps.
In the midst of an up and down campaign, Gilchrist has been on the upside lately, having been named ACC Player of the Week after averaging 19 points, 9.5 assists and 7.5 rebounds in a pair of Maryland victories last week.
"When he has his `A' game, we're a much better team," Williams said. "He's really picked it up the last three weeks or so. Hopefully he can continue to play well down the stretch."
In the first game between Maryland and NC State, Gilchrist had 13 points, three assists and three turnovers.
Along with its inconsistent play at home, the Wolfpack has not been able to put together back-to-back victories since late December. Wednesday night's contest will offer up yet another opportunity to get something going for the ACC stretch run.
"We have a lot of games coming up that we have to take care of and it starts with Maryland," said NC State forward Ilian Evtimov. "Despite the fact that we played a good second half at Wake and won at Georgia Tech, it's got to carry over. We've had some bad losses at home but I think our team is back to having almost everybody healthy. Everyone's very confident right now. We need the crowd to get into it and help us win this game. We've got four out of five at home and we've just got to win them."
