North Carolina State University Athletics
Men's Basketball Opens Season With 66-47 Win
11/16/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Updated: 11:04 p.m., 11/15/2007, to add freshman scoring records, quotes, post-game interviews.
BY TIM PEELER
The forward/center from
It's the most field goal attempts in a single game without a miss in school history, eclipsing Josh Powell's 10-for-10 performance against North Carolina A&T on Dec. 14, 2002, and the most consecutive field goals to start a career of any player in ACC history, topping the 11 in a row Duke’s Cherokee Parks had at the beginning of his career.
“It’s not what I expected,” said a fairly stunned Hickson said after scoring the second-most points by a Wolfpack freshman in school history. “Of course, 12 of 12 is always good, but I just came here to have fun and win the game.
“It’s not about how many points I get or how many rebounds I get.”
Hickson's only misses on the night were at the free throw line, where he made seven of 10 shots before leaving with less than a minute to play. It was the most points by a Wolfpack freshman in his first game since Ivan Wagner scored 29 against Virginia Military Institute to open the 1996-97 season.
It was also the second-most points ever scored by a Wolfpack freshman. Ernie Myers set that mark in 1983 with 35 points against Duke.
“It feels good,” Hickson said. “It boosts my confidence up a little bit. I still have to learn from my mistakes. I didn’t play a perfect game or anything like that. I just want to not make the same mistakes next game, like not getting loose rebounds and things like that.”
The Wolfpack needed all of Hickson's efforts, after watching a 17-point lead dwindle down to just five points with less than nine minutes to play in its 2007-08 season-opener. Hickson scored nine points over the last six minutes of the game as the Wolfpack (1-0) stretched its lead back to 19 points to notch the team’s 14th consecutive season-opening win.
For second-year head coach Sidney Lowe, it was a hug-worthy performance for the young player, who got a big embrace from the coach when he came off the floor for the final time. In the post-game, he had no intentions of telling Hickson playing college basketball won’t always lead to such gaudy statistics.
“I like for him to keep that confidence, to feel like he can do it against anyone,” said Lowe, whose team returns to action Sunday at 6:30 p.m. against
Hickson, starting in place of junior Ben McCauley, made his much-anticipated debut by scoring eight of the Wolfpack’s first 11 points. He finished the first half with 14.
Sophomore Brandon Costner hit two first-half 3-pointers and had 10 points before intermission. He finished the game with 13 points and 12 rebounds. Junior Courtney Fells had 10 points, the only other Wolfpack player to hit double digits.
McCauley saw limited action in the game, scoring just two points and getting one rebound in 14 minutes of action.
“Certainly, I know what Ben is capable of doing,” said Lowe. “His minutes will come.”
Hickson's 31 points was six points shy of the school record for points in a season opener. That mark of 37 was set by sophomore Charles "Hawkeye" Whitney on Nov. 26, 1977, against Appalachian State. It was also two points shy of the record for most points in a varsity debut, set by sophomore David Thompson in a 130-53 victory over Appalachian State on Nov. 27, 1972.
You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
