NC State
East Carolina
Wolfpack struggles to 57-49 victory over East Carolina
12/8/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 8, 1982
BY TIM PEELER
RALEIGH, N.C. Maybe now, NC State coach Jim Valvano hopes, his team will learn a little about patience.
The No. 18 Wolfpack, struggling against East Carolina Wednesday night at Reynolds Coliseum, rushed its offense without a 3-point shot and 30-second clock. And that lack of patience nearly cost Valvano's team, which trailed 36-32 with 13 minutes to play in the game.
Sparked by the play of freshman Ernie Myers, State pulled the game out by scoring 10 consecutive points mid-way through the second half. It eventually stretched that lead to double figures before finishing off the 57-49 victory.
But it was a performance that disappointed Valvano and his players after back-to-back games of 100 points. Those games were played with the ACC's experimental 3-point and 30-second shot clock; this one was not.
The loss was frustrated first-year East Carolina coach Charlie Harrison, who thought his team had ample opportunity to get its first win against the Wolfpack. Instead, the Pirates extended their losing streak to 14 consecutive games against State.
But no one wearing red and white was overly celebrating the team's third consecutive win.
"I'm very disappointed with the way we played," said Valvano, who went to the Pirate locker room after the game to praise the team's play against his own nationally ranked Wolfpack. "But I don't want to take away anything from an excellent not good, excellent effort on the part of East Carolina. This was a game we badly needed. We've had a couple of 30-point wins, so we needed a tough game."
It certainly won't be the toughest game the Wolfpack plays over the next five weeks, beginning with Saturday's game at Reynolds Coliseum against Michigan State. Also on the schedule before February are Louisville, West Virginia, Clemson, Missouri, top-ranked Virginia, defending national champion North Carolina, Wake Forest and Memphis State.
Valvano knows his team, which is still relying on its backcourt to do most of the work, will have to get better play from its frontcourt. Wednesday night, seniors Sidney Lowe and Dereck Whittenburg combined with freshman Ernie Myers to score 36 of the team's 57 points.
Myers, who came off the bench to replace sophomore center Cozell McQueen in the Pack's three-guard offense, was the team's leading scorer with 15 points.
"Our guard play, unfortunately, is still carrying us," Valvano said. "If we are going to compete with the schedule we have, we have to get better inside play."
McQueen did not score or get a rebound in just seven minutes of play. Sophomore Lorenzo Charles had two points and one rebound in 11 minutes of action. Junior college transfer Alvin Battle, continuing his bid to take over Charles' starting job, had six points and one rebound in 23 minutes.
Even senior Thurl Bailey, who averaged more than 20 points in the Wolfpack's first two games, struggled on offense, netting just nine points. He made a big difference on defense, however, blocking six shots and getting three steals.
"Without a clock, we've got to concentrate on playing a slower-paced game," Bailey said. "That was why ECU was so successful. They would run their offense over and over until someone broke free. We have to take our time, swing the ball around and wait for the good, open shots. We need to play from the neck up. We took too many bad shots against ECU."
The Wolfpack also had trouble slowing down East Carolina freshman Johnny Edwards, who scored his team's first 11 points, outscoring the Wolfpack 11-5 on his own. Valvano changed his defense on Edwards in the second half, putting junior defensive specialist Harold Thompson into the lineup. Edwards scored only four points in the second half.
Lowe, the senior point guard, says the Wolfpack needs to do a better job controlling the tempo, no matter if the game is played with or without the ACC's experimental rules.
"We want to run regardless of the rules," said Lowe, who had 11 points and five assists in the game. "If the other team wants to slow it down, we have to make them play our game. But we still have to be patient, because the shots might not come as quick without the 30-second clock.
"We learned a valuable lesson against ECU, and I am glad we were able to learn without losing the ball game."
The Wolfpack did suffer a significant loss, however: with 6:48 remaining in the first half, freshman guard George McClain suffered an ankle injury diving for a loose ball. The injury appeared significant, though Valvano had not gotten a report from team doctors immediately after the game was over.
The loss of McClain, who scored 20 points in just 33 minutes of playing time in the Wolfpack's first two games, is a blow for the team's deep backcourt. It will likely mean more playing time for sharpshooting sophomore Terry Gannon, who has seen limited action off the bench this season, scoring eight points against Western Carolina and three against N.C. A&T. Both those games were playing using the ACC's experimental 3-point and 30-second rules.
You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
