North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State
Maryland
NC State Finishes Off Season Sweep of Maryland, 82-63
2/17/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 16, 2005
By Tony Haynes
Raleigh, N.C. - For the first time in 2005, NC State has a winning streak to brag about. In finishing off its first regular season sweep of Maryland since 1989, the Wolfpack made it back-to-back victories for the first time since late December. And this one was impressive. Ilian Evtimov and Tony Bethel led four players in double figures with 17 points apiece on a night when the Pack often used pinpoint offensive execution to pile up 22 assists on its 25 baskets in an 82-63 win. Julius Hodge led the assist parade with nine, to go along with 13 points and seven rebounds.
"That's ideally how NC State wants to play," said Wolfpack head coach Herb Sendek.
And just as it had done in constructing a 26-point halftime lead in College Park last month, the Pack (15-10, 5-7) was hitting on all cylinders early. After a Nik Caner-Medley 3-pointer had given the Terrapins a 20-19 lead with 11:45 remaining in the opening half, NC State went on a 24-4 blitz that had the RBC Center crowd of 16, 393 roaring its approval.
Among other things, NC State was credited with assists on nine of its first 10 baskets. And whether it was striking in transition or simply executing in the halfcourt, the Wolfpack often looked like an offensive machine, getting two 3s from Bethel and one each from Evtimov, Engin Atsur and Cameron Bennerman that helped it open up a 44-24 lead with 6:21 left in the half. More often that not, the open shots were created by Hodge penetrating and kicking or leading the break after Maryland misses and turnovers.
"It felt like we could score on all of our options," said Bethel, who was 5-of-7 from the floor and drilled 3-of-5 from 3-point range. "That sounds kind of bizarre, but that's exactly how we felt. We were going inside, going outside, getting layups, getting fouled and getting transition points. If we can play like that, we're going to be tough to deal with."
So befuddled was Maryland (15-8, 6-6) with its man-to-man that it went to a 3-2 zone for the remainder of the half, a defense that helped the Terps get within a 14-point deficit at intermission.
The Terps stayed with the zone over the first 10 minutes of the second half and tried to make a game of it. An old fashioned 3-point play by forward Travis Garrison with 7:16 remaining capped an 8-0 Maryland run that made it 63-56.
With the crowd growing uneasy, the Pack responded with an 8-0 run of its own. It all started with Hodge hitting Atsur (14 points) on a backdoor cut for a layup that put NC State up 65-56 at the 5:59 mark. Thirty-nine seconds later, Bethel hit what may have been the backbreaker. Taking a pass from Evtimov who had drawn two defenders to him in the lane, the junior guard found nothing by net from the left corner, a shot that left the Wolfpack with a 68-65 edge.
"That was a huge shot," Sendek said. "It seems like we have a shot like that every time we play these guys. They just keep coming and their system allows them to strike quickly in transition. That was a great play and Tony knocked it down for us."
Said Bethel: "Ilian (four assists) was making exceptional passes all night. He kicked it to me in the corner and I was able to get a good look. He put it right in my pocket, so it was easy to shoot."
Bethel's shot also seemed to take the air out of Maryland's comeback. Hitting its free throws down the stretch, NC State was 19-of-21 for the game. The Wolfpack even had the advantage on the boards, outrebounding the Terrapins 39-33. Center Jordan Collins finished with a career-high nine boards.
"NC State played harder than us early in the game and to their credit, they were ready to go," said coach Gary Williams, whose team couldn't build on Saturday night's impressive win over Duke at home. "Herb Sendek prepares his teams as well as anybody we play against. He should get a lot more credit for what he does. He's in a tough area down here."
NC State complimented its offensive execution with another strong defensive game. After playing strong defense in a win at Georgia Tech on Sunday night, the Wolfpack held Maryland to just 36.8 percent shooting on Wednesday. In the opening half, however, the Pack could find no one to stay with Caner-Medley, who had 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting. But with Hodge and others hounding him in the second 20 minutes, Caner-Medley scored just two more points - both on free throws.
"I really challenged Julius at halftime because that was the most natural matchup for us on Caner-Medley," Sendek said. "He's a terrific player and Julius did a much better job in the second half with some help from his teammates."
Along with Caner-Medley's 19 points, the Terps also got 11 each from Chris McCray and Travis Garrison. The ACC's Player of the Week last week - John Gilchrist - went just 1-of-6 from the field and finished with only seven points. Gilchrist was dogged most of the game by Bethel.
"I just tried to keep him in front," Bethel said. "He's a strong guard and he'll bump you off with his body. My thing was to pressure but not pressure him too much where he can get the edge. When he gets going, he gets the whole Maryland team going."
For the game, NC State hit 25-of-57 shots for 43.9 percent. The Pack was 13-of-30 from the 3-point line.
