North Carolina State University Athletics
Gary Hahn's ACC Tournament Scouting Report
3/9/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 9, 2006
NC STATE IN THE 53rd ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT
DATE: Thur.-Sun., March 9-12, 2006 @ Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, NC (23,733)
SCHEDULE: ACC Tournament Bracket
RADIO: Wolfpack Sports Network will carry the final seven games of the tournament beginning with Friday's quarterfinals.
AIRTIMES:Friday, March 10 at 11:30 a.m. & 6:30 p.m., Saturday, March 11 at 1:00 p.m., Sunday, March 12 at 12:30 p.m.
TELEVISION: Raycom/Jefferson Pilot, ESPN and espn2
TOURNAMENT HISTORY -- In the early years of the ACC Tournament, everyone regarded the tournament champion as the ACC champion. However, it wasn't until July 1, 1961, that the words "and the winner shall be the conference champion" were added to the ACC bylaws. NC State won the first three ACC Tournament championships and has notched ten titles overall. The last ACC championship for NC State came in 1987 when the Wolfpack beat North Carolina 68-67. Overall, the Pack has a 58-42 ACC Tournament record. It is the third best in the league behind North Carolina and Duke.
For the 53rd ACC Tournanent, the Wolfpack is the No. 4 seed and has a 14-7 record in that bracket position. State is 13-9 in the ACC Tournament under coach, Herb Sendek with three trips to the championship game. The Pack has recorded seven wins at the ACC Tournament in the last four years and under Sendek has won at least one tournament game in eight of the last nine years.
The most points ever scored by an NC State player in ACC Tournament competition is shared by two men. Tommy Burleson tallied 38 points against Maryland in 1974 while David Thompson scored 38 versus Virginia in 1975. John Richter holds NC State's single game ACC Tournament rebounding record with 23 against South Carolina in 1959. Phil DiNardo, Herb Applebaum, Joe Cafferky, and Chris Corchiani share the school's single tournament game assist record with nine. The Wolfpack's best field goal percentage in an ACC Tournament game came in 1975 when NC State sank 36 of 60 shots against Maryland (.600).
Since being moved from NC State's Reynolds Coliseum where it was held from 1954-66, the ACC Tournament has been hosted at the original Charlotte Coliseum, the Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland, the Omni and Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia, the new Charlotte Coliseum, Washington's MCI Center and the Greensboro (N.C.) Coliseum. The Tournament will move to Tampa, Florida in 2007.
NC STATE'S QUARTERFINAL OPPONENT--Will be Wake Forest, which upset Florida State, 78-66, in Thursday's first round.
The Pack split its season series with Wake Forest, beating the Deacons 92-82 on Jan. 21 in Raleigh by scoring 38 points in the paint, limiting turnovers to 9 and shooting 37-43 from the foul line. Cam Bennerman's 26 points led State while Eric Williams had 19 points and 8 rebounds for the Deacons. On March 4th, The Pack suffered its worst shooting performance of the season and fell to Wake Forest 76-63 at Joel Coliseum. State, playing without Bennerman (Hamstring injury), shot only 26 percent from the field and was outrebounded 45-32. Williams dominated the Pack inside with 22 points and 16 rebounds. Atsur and Gavin Grant combined for 44 Wolfpack points. State shot 4-of-29 from the arc.
. A WIN--Would break a Wolfpack 3-game losing streak and give State some needed positive momentum as it prepares for a spot in the NCAA Tournament. The Pack would improve to 22-8 and better last season's win total. State would improve to 14-9 in the ACC Tournament under Herb Sendek who would move into a tie with Everett Case for 14th place on the ACC's all-time coaching win list. State would earn at least one ACC Tournament win for the ninth time in the last 10 years. The Wolfpack would beat Wake Forest for the second time this season and seventh time in the last nine meetings. The Deacons would drop to 16-16 overall. The Pack would beat FSU for the second time this season and 15th time in the last 16 games of the series.
A LOSS--Would mark the Pack's longest losing streak of the season (4 straight) and drop State to 21-9 as it waits for an NCAA Tournament bid on Sunday. The Pack would drop to 13-10 in ACC Tournament play under Herb Sendek and to 14-8 as a No.4 seed in the tournament. Wake Forest would beat NC State for the second time this season and for the fourth time in the last six games of the series. The Deacons would improve to 17-15. FSU would beat the Pack for the first time this season and for only the second time in the last 16 games of the series. The Seminoles would improve to 21-8 and solidify their chances for an NCAA Tournament bid. The loss would mark just the second time in the last 10 years that NC State did not earn at least one victory in the ACC Tournament.
CIRCLE THE WAGONS -- The Wolfpack will try to end its first losing streak of the season on Friday. In consecutive losses to North Carolina, Boston College and Wake Forest, the Pack shot a combined .366 from the field (63-172) and .236 from the 3-point arc (21-89). State was outrebounded a combined 134-92 and 51-32 on the offensive glass. Starting guards Engin Atsur and Tony Bethel were a combined 18-of-61 from the field (.317) in the three games with only two assists.
OFFENSIVE OBSERVATIONS -- The Wolfpack is averaging 75.8 points a game while shooting .464 from the field in ACC games. The Pack shot 64 percent from the field (28-44) and made 13 of 23 three-point shots in its win over Florida State on 2/15. That was the last time the Wolfpack shot 50% or better from the field. In two games against Wake Forest, State shot a combined 36 percent (40-111) from the field and 19 percent from the 3-point arc (9-48). However, State shot 86 percent from the foul line against the Deacons (66-77).
BOMBS ON TARGET --State is No.3 in the ACC in three-point shooting in league games (.405) and has made more three-points shots overall (270) than any ACC team this season. The Pack has made 12 or more three-pointers in 5 of its last 8 games. For the season, 46 percent of the Pack's shots come from 3-point range.
BETHEL BOMBS AWAY --Guard Tony Bethel leads the ACC in 3-point field goal percentage (.489) versus league opponents (46-91), but he's only 3-of-18 in his last 3 games (.166). Bethel is NC State's best perimeter on-the-ball defender and is also a highly skilled playmaker and rebounder. The redshirt senior is averaging 10.5 points (95), 3.3 rebounds (30) and 2.3 assists (21) in his last 9 games. He recorded 5 steals vs. Wake Forest on Jan. 21.
MAY I HELP YOU? --NC State is averaging an assist on an impressive 65 percent of its field goals (467-722) this season. The Pack had 22 assists on 28 field goals in its win over FSU on 2/15.
KNOW WHEN TO HOLD `EM --Consistent defense is a hallmark of Wolfpack basketball under Herb Sendek. Overall, the Pack leads the ACC in field goal percentage defense (.407) and allows ACC opponents only .434 shooting from the field. In its last 9 games, the Pack has held its opponents to an average of 71.4 points a game (643).
THR IRON TURK-- Nobody on the Wolfpack team has played more minutes this season than Engin Atsur (973). The native of Istanbul, Turkey, is one of the most versatile players in the ACC. The 6-4 junior leads the Pack in assists (104), steals (50) and minutes (33.6) while averaging 11.7 points a game. In his last 7 games, the junior has averaged 15.0 points (105) while shooting 46 percent from the field (32-69). Against FSU on 2/15, Atsur recorded 19 points and 8 assists. He scored a career-high 23 points on March 4 against Wake Forest and also had 4 steals.
BULGARIAN BOMBER --Ilian Evtimov, a native of Sofia, Bulgaria, is one of the Pack's most valuable players. The 6-8 forward sprained a ligament in his left foot late in the first half against FSU on 2/15 and did not play at Virginia Tech on 2/18. However, he did return to play with limited effectiveness in each of the last 3 games. Evtimov led the Pack in scoring in the loss to Boston College on 2/25 with 16 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists and shot 5-of-10 from the field. Not many forwards in the ACC shoot better than 40 percent from the three-point arc, but Evtimov is one of them (.422). He has made 15of his last 32 three-point shots (.469). The native of Sofia, Bulgaria, is also an excellent free throw shooter, making 23 of his last 25 from the foul line. In the 6 games prior to his injury, Evtimov averaged 13.5 points (81) points and 5.8 rebounds (35).
HE'S A CAM IN FOCUS --Although he missed the Pack's final regular season game at Wake Forest with a hamstring injury, Cameron Bennerman has played a major role in the Pack's success this season. The athletic senior tied his career-high with 26 points including 10-of-10 at the foul line in the Pack's win at Virginia Tech on 2/18. Bennerman sank eight of his free throws in the final 55-seconds when the game was in doubt. He also led the Pack with 26 points in a win over Wake Forest on 1/21.The Pack's top scorer has averaged 15.0 points (329) over his last 22-games while shooting .521 from the field (119-228) during that span. Bennerman sank a clutch 3-pointer to force overtime at Clemson on 1/29 and scored 23 points in the Pack's double-overtime win at Miami on 2/8.
FRIENDLY FOUL LINE-- Over its last 6 games, the Wolfpack is shooting .825 percent from the foul line (118-143). State is hitting an impressive .783 of its free throws in ACC games (281-359) to lead the league. The Wolfpack was 22-of-25 from the line in its double overtime win at Miami on 2/8/06 and 37-43 in a home victory over Wake Forest on 1/21.
HEY, MR. POSTMAN --Cedric Simmons has given NC State a low post scoring and defensive threat that was missing the last two seasons. The sophomore is the team's No. 2 scorer (12.1) while leading the Pack in rebounding (6.6) and blocked shots (2.6). Simmons' field goal percent of .601 also leads the team. However, in his last 8 games, he's averaged only 9.9 points (79) with limited field goal attempts. Simmons recorded a career-high 28 points at Duke on Jan. 18th along with 9 rebounds, 7 blocked shots and 3 steals. He blocked six shots at Virginia Tech on 2/18.
INJURIES --Freshman forward Brandon Costner will miss his 25th consecutive game for the Wolfpack with a leg injury. Ilian Evtimov continues to recover from a sprained foot ligament suffered on 2/15 while Cam Bennerman is nursing a pulled hamstring that occurred on 2/25.
