North Carolina State University Athletics
Wolfpack, Badgers Close in on Game Time
3/24/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 24, 2005
By Tony Haynes
Syracuse, N.Y. - Talk about strange bedfellows. Fans from NC State and North Carolina, wearing their respective school colors, mingle amongst each other Thursday afternoon as the Wolfpack practiced at the Carrier Dome in preparation for its NCAA `Sweet 16' meeting with Wisconsin Friday night at 7:27. Then, as he left the court, Pack senior Julius Hodge started signing autographs for fans, some of whom were wearing light blue of all things. "Carolina fans are cool; it's all good baby," Hodge said. "I wish them luck." NC State and North Carolina would, of course, relish the opportunity to meet each other in the regional final on Sunday, but if either team makes the mistake of looking ahead, they'll be back home in the Triangle watching the rest of the tournament on TV.
Still, `Tobacco Road' was most definitely on display in - of all places - Syracuse, N.Y. as both the Wolfpack (21-13) and Tar Heels were among four teams that participated in practices that were open to the public.
"Tobacco Road is a basketball environment," Hodge told the national media during a press conference. "To have Duke 20 minutes away, Carolina about 25 and also Wake Forest, it's a lot of competition and some really great players. It makes us work that much harder to succeed. I think as much as anything, that's given us a huge amount of motivation and a big lift through the good and the bad times. We knew we didn't have to look across the country to see the best teams; they were right there in our backyard. We knew if we continued to work hard, we could be right there on the stage with them."
And the stage has continued to get bigger for an NC State team that has gone from being 3-7 in the ACC at one juncture of the regular season to its first `Sweet 16' appearance in 16 years.
The Pack's opponent on Friday, Wisconsin (24-8), has been here before. In fact, coach Bo Ryan's program is in the third round of the tournament for the second time in the last three years.
Along with finishing third in the Big 10 this season, the Badgers also made it to the conference tournament final in Chicago before falling to top ranked Illinois. And anyone who has played Wisconsin this season will say that the Badgers will be a tough out in the NCAA Tournament. UW plays tough, hardnosed man-to-man defense, doesn't turn the ball over and shoots the 3 from five positions.
Sound familiar? Sure...that's the recipe that has helped NC State get to this point as well.
And while the Wolfpack looks to get out and run the floor a little bit more in transition, neither team gets overly frustrated by games that turn into possession-by-possession halfcourt slugfests.
As Ryan points out, a deliberate halfcourt offensive style isn't such a bad thing if it produces positive results.
"What coach would not want to get a high percentage shot," Ryan asked rhetorically. "What coach would not want their teams to not turn the ball over? What coach would not want their team to go to the free throw line more than their opponent? I think Herb is trying to do the same thing that we're doing in that we're trying in those categories that sometimes seem to simplistic. But isn't it amazing that the teams that take care of those things I just mentioned end up being pretty good. What does deliberate mean, not being in a hurry to make a mistake?"
Ryan's team doesn't make many mistakes. The Badgers' average of just 11.2 turnovers per game ranks sixth best in the nation. Defensively, they've held their opponents to just 59 points per game and 29.4 percent shooting from 3-point range. Over its last 10 games, Wisconsin's opponents have shot just 25.8 percent from the arc.
"Wisconsin takes a lot of pride in their defense and so do we," said NC State forward Ilian Evtimov. "They have tendencies just like we do and like any other team that's running a motion offense like that. We're going to do the best we can to make them uncomfortable just like they're going to try to make us uncomfortable. It's going to come down to who is executing their offense the best."
But crisp offensive execution may be difficult to achieve on Friday night given the way both teams have been performing on the defensive end of the court. In winning eight of its last 11 games, the Wolfpack has held opposing teams to an average of 63.3 points per game.
If form holds in this matchup, the shot clock buzzer may get a work out on Friday.
Speaking of workouts, NC State guard Tony Bethel did participate in the Wolfpack's open practice on Thursday. Bethel, out since pulling a groin muscle in the first round of the ACC Tournament, could give Sendek some minutes on Friday night. Center Jordan Collins, who continues to recover from a shoulder separation, was on the court for every practice this week after scoring six points in seven minutes in last Sunday's win over Connecticut.
"I think Jordan has really turned the corner and seems to be doing fine provided he doesn't have any outside influence on that shoulder," Sendek said. "Tony, likewise, has really made some terrific strides. He's probably not nearly as far along as Jordan, but you saw him out there shooting and running around today. He's clearly a lot better than he was this past weekend. I'm still not at all certain as to the degree of his availability for an actual game. We'll have to continue to play that by ear over the next 36 hours."
Friday's meeting will be the first ever between NC State and Wisconsin. Five members of the current Wolfpack squad - Hodge, Evtimov, Collins, Bethel and forward Levi Watkins have all played at the Carrier Dome before. In their freshman seasons, Hodge, Evtimov, Collins and Watkins played on a team that upset then 9th ranked Syracuse in the dome. Bethel started two games against Syracuse in the 2002 and 2003 seasons when he played for Georgetown.
