NC State
Seton Hall
Pack Falls To Seton Hall At Home
1/25/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 25, 2006
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - Donald Copeland had 22 points, Kelly Whitney added 17 and Seton Hall stunned No. 15 North Carolina State 83-65 Wednesday night, handing the Wolfpack their first home loss of the season.
Jamar Nutter and Paul Gause each finished with 12 points for the Pirates (11-6), who dominated throughout in nearly every phase of the game. No advantage was as glaring as in rebounds - at halftime, they led 40-27 on the scoreboard and had more offensive rebounds (10) than N.C. State totaled on both ends (8).
Tony Bethel had 15 points for N.C. State (15-4), while Ilian Evtimov and Cedric Simmons each scored 12.
Seton Hall started the second half with a 14-3 run that was helped by a technical foul on Wolfpack coach Herb Sendek. He was incensed when referee Michael Stephens wouldn't call a palming violation on Copeland, and he also yelled at one of Stephens' cohorts, Karl Hess.
Hess quickly called the technical on Sendek, and coincidentally, Copeland converted both free throws. He then added a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession to give the Pirates a 54-30 lead.
Later, when N.C. State's Cameron Bennerman missed an uncontested layup and Evtimov simply threw the ball away a couple of trips later, Sendek could only smile ruefully. He already had tried getting his players going with a fiery lecture during one timeout in the first half, when his screams could be heard over the din of the crowd.
Nothing seemed to work, particularly with the Pirates' surprising efficiency on offense. They had lost three of their previous four games, and the lone victory required a stirring comeback against South Florida. Seton Hall trailed that one by 10 points with 3 minutes left before eventually winning in overtime.
There would be no such rally for the Wolfpack, despite some desperate strategy down the stretch. With about 5 1/2 minutes remaining, they relied almost exclusively on 3s and began fouling nearly every time the Pirates had the ball.
It only delayed the inevitable. N.C. State only could get within 14 points a couple of times, and Seton Hall was left with perhaps their defining effort so far this season. The result sure looked a lot better than its previous trip to the state to face an Atlantic Coast Conference opponent - in the NIT Season Tip-Off, the Pirates lost 93-40 to Duke.
They jumped to leads of 15-4, 22-6 and 26-9 before N.C. State came to life a bit, but the final possession of the half embodied the Wolfpack's struggles. Seton Hall had a lineup of four guards and patiently worked for the final shot before Nutter missed.
But Brian Laing, a 6-foot-5 swingman, got inside for the rebound and put it back in moments before the buzzer to give the Pirates a 40-27 lead.
