North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State-UConn AP Preview
3/20/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
GAME: No. 10 North Carolina State (20-13) vs. No. 2 Connecticut (23-7).
REGIONAL: Syracuse, second round.
TIME: Sunday, 12:10 p.m. EST.
SITE: DCU Center, Worcester, Mass.
After a stretch of dominant play since the start of February, Connecticut could dismiss one ugly loss in the Big East tournament as an aberration.
Struggling to beat a No. 15 seed in their NCAA tournament opener, however, might be a cause for concern for the Huskies.
Second-seeded UConn looks to get back to its overpowering form when it takes on North Carolina State in the second round of the Syracuse Regional.
Connecticut played poorly in a 67-63 loss to Syracuse in last Friday's Big East tournament semifinals, ending its seven-game winning streak. The Orange were upset in the opening round of the NCAA tournament, and the defending national champion Huskies looked to be in danger of suffering the same fate before holding off Central Florida 77-71 on Friday.
Losing to Syracuse for the first time in three meetings probably didn't have Huskies fans too worried, but Friday's performance might have changed that. For the second straight contest, UConn didn't play like the team that had surged into the Big East semis with 10 wins in 11 games.
Connecticut shot 50 percent from the field (29-for-58) Friday, but its problems at the free-throw line continued. After going 7-of-18 (39 percent) from the foul line in the Syracuse defeat, the Huskies were 16-of-25 (64 percent) against UCF.
"We don't worry about style points," center Josh Boone said. "At times, we just tried to do way too much, make a pass that wasn't there, make a shot that wasn't there. If we continue to play like this, only 10 or 11 minutes a game, it could be a very quick tournament for us."
In the end, the Huskies were just too talented for the Golden Knights, as Charlie Villanueva scored 22 points to help UConn earn its 13th consecutive first-round NCAA tournament victory.
"Some of them have been awful. Some of them have been great. This one was OK at best," coach Jim Calhoun said. "We played some brilliant basketball, took our foot off the pedal and couldn't find it again. ... From that point on, we didn't play with the kind of enthusiasm this event deserves.
"But we'll be one of the 32, and that's the whole idea."
Calhoun's biggest concern was that his team "looked joyless," and the missing emotion may have contributed to Central Florida cutting Connecticut's 19-point lead to four. The Huskies had little success defending Gary Johnson, who had 29 points and seven 3-pointers for the Golden Knights.
UConn will need to do better defensively Sunday against North Carolina State star Julius Hodge, who had 19 points, nine assists and seven rebounds to spark the Wolfpack past Charlotte 75-63 on Friday. Hodge was the ACC player of the year last season, and leads the Wolfpack with 17.1 points and 6.8 rebounds per game in 2004-05.
Hodge helped key a late 16-4 surge against the 49ers, and his teammates rallied around the senior forward to keep their season alive after N.C. State had trailed 23-9 at the 11:29 mark of the first half.
"We got into a hole and I told the guys, 'If we lose, we're going home tonight, and we're not going to do that, not in Julius' last game,"' said Ilian Evtimov, who finished with 12 points.
Hodge stormed into the locker room, shouting in jubilation after the win. It was a far cry from last year, when he fouled out of a second-round loss to Vanderbilt and left the court in tears - the lowest moment of his stellar career.
"Last year's in the past. I just told the guys that, 'This is it, we have to step it up,"' Hodge said. "We know we have to play through deficits."
While Hodge will be the primary concern for Connecticut on defense, N.C. State's challenge will be to find a way to handle the Huskies' size. The Wolfpack aren't a particularly big team, with 6-foot-10 Andrew Brackman their tallest starter, and they'll have to find a way to contain Villanueva (6-11), Boone (6-10), Rudy Gay (6-9) and Hilton Armstrong (6-11), all of whom play meaningful minutes.
UConn leads the series with N.C. State 2-1. The teams haven't met since the 2001-02 season.
Sunday's winner advances to the regional semifinals to face Bucknell or Wisconsin at Syracuse's Carrier Dome on Friday.
PROBABLE STARTERS: North Carolina State - F Hodge (17.1 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 4.7 apg), F Brackman (7.5 ppg, 3.6 rpg), F Evtimov (9.8 ppg, 3.8 rpg), G Cameron Bennerman (9.3 ppg, 2.6 rpg), G Engin Atsur (9.3 ppg, 2.5 apg). Connecticut - F Villanueva (13.5 ppg, 8.2 rpg, 1.8 bpg), F Gay (12.1 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 2.0 bpg), C Boone (12.6 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 2.9 bpg), G Denham Brown (10.8 ppg, 4.1 rpg), G Marcus Williams (9.2 ppg, 8.0 apg).
HOW THEY GOT HERE: North Carolina State - At-large berth, ACC; beat No. 7 seed Charlotte 75-63, first round. Connecticut - At-large berth, Big East; beat No. 15 seed Central Florida 77-71, first round.
ALL-TIME TOURNAMENT RECORD: North Carolina State - 18-17, 19 years. Connecticut - 37-23, 26 years.
