North Carolina State University Athletics
Hodge, Bennerman spark win over 49ers
3/18/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 18, 2005
BY TIM PEELER
WORCESTER, Mass. - Julius Hodge and Cameron Bennerman were walking down the hallway of the DCU Center Friday after, the 75-63 victory over Charlotte already recorded on the official NCAA Tournament bracket.
Hodge was limping a little on a tender ankle. Or maybe it was because he wasn't wearing any shoes, even though he had just been sitting in front of the national media on the podium in the post-game press conference.
"Yo, man," the Wolfpack star said to Bennerman. "Nice D."
There were two reasons Herb Sendek's team advanced to the second round of the NCAAs for the third time in the last four years: Hodge and Bennerman.
Hodge provided the emotional and offensive spark necessary to overcome Charlotte's 14-point advantage in the first half. He was diving on the floor, getting in his teammates faces, willing the Wolfpack to win so that his college career would not end in a first-round loss.
His numbers spoke volumes about his game. He scored 19 points, joining Wolfpack legends David Thompson and Rodney Monroe as the only players in NC State history to score 2,000 points in a career.
More importantly, however, was the fact that Hodge grabbed seven rebounds and dished out nine assists on a day in which his teammates were as hot offensively as they have been in recent games.
"He put us on his shoulders," freshman teammate Andrew Brackman said. "Everybody has to feed off of him, and he really got us that extra step today."
All in a day's work for Hodge, the 2004 ACC Player of the Year and a two-time first-team All-ACC selection.
"There were times in this game where I felt like I had to step up and do a little bit more," Hodge said. "Not necessarily scoring, but distributing the all. Even when guys were missing a few chippies, I was staying in their ear, staying positive, getting guys motivated."
Added Sendek: "He played with great will today. He was a really good player today, but he was an even better leader. He just willed out team to victory."
But Bennerman also played a huge role in the victory by contributing defense on Charlotte shooter Brendan Plavich and offense by knocking down a few jumpshots when Ilian Evtimov and Brackman were both struggling to make shots. Bennerman finished the game with 12 points, one of five Wolfpack players in double figures in the game. Hodge's 19 points were a game high, while Brackman had 16 points, Evtimov had 12 and Engin Atsur had 10.
It was a well-rounded effort offensively and defensively.
Bennerman, though, gets much of the defensive credit for stopping Plavich, who opened the game by hitting four straight 3-pointers and helping his team build several 14-point leads in the first half. Plavich was shooting against a tag-team defense of Bennerman and Atsur early in the game, but at halftime Sendek told Bennerman to follow Plavich throughout the second half. Bennerman's oppressive defense forced Plavich to miss five of his final six 3-point attempts.
"When we switched in the first half, from Engin guarding Plavich to Cam, it was really evident that Cam was doing a really good job on him. He stayed right with him with great concentration. No matter how hard you are playing, it has to be coupled with concentration. He gave us great effort."
But there was also good interior defense by Evtimov and Brackman, preventing Charlotte's post players, Eddie Basden and Curtis Withers, from making easy inside shots, which is how the 49ers have taken out other opponents when the defensive focus has previously shifted to Plavich.
Over the last 14 minutes of the game, the Wolfpack defense held Charlotte to 5-for-24 from the field, allowed only 11 points and forced 11 turnovers. That turned a 52-45 deficit into a 75-63 victory for Sendek's team.
On Sunday, the Wolfpack will play Connecticut in the second round, in a rematch of a 2002 second-round game in Washington, D.C.
You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
