North Carolina State University Athletics
Wolfpack Draws Duke In ACC Tourney
3/5/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Raleigh, N.C. – As he was watching the Tobacco Road battle between Duke and North Carolina on Sunday, little did NC State coach Sidney Lowe know that a late-game incident in the heated rivalry would have a direct impact on his team.
He knows now.
When game officials ejected Duke freshman Gerald Henderson with 14.5 seconds left after he had committed what was ruled a flagrant foul by whacking UNC center Tyler Hansbrough across the nose, Henderson, by NCAA rule, was automatically suspended for the Blue Devils’ next game.
That next game will be Thursday at 7 p.m. against NC State (15-14, 5-11) in the opening round of the ACC Tournament in Tampa.
Everyone on Monday seemed to have an opinion on whether Henderson’s act was intentional, but one of those unwilling to share his thoughts on the play was Lowe, who offered a “no comment.”
“I’ll just say it was an unfortunate thing for both guys,” Lowe said.
Losing Henderson will certainly be a blow for Duke (22-9, 8-8), which will be the No. 7 seed in this week’s tournament. Along with being one of coach Mike Krzyzewki’s most athletic players, the freshman from Merion, Pennsylvania has, at times, been an explosive scorer. Averaging 6.8 points per game, Henderson made 8-of-14 field goal attempts in a career-high 16-point outburst during Sunday’s 86-72 loss to the Tar Heels. He scored 15 points in Duke’s previous game against Maryland.
“They’re certainly going to miss is athleticism and what he brings to the table, but we’re sure they’re going to have somebody in there that’s going to work just as hard,” said Lowe. “We’ll have to be ready to play.”
Henderson tallied eight points in 18 minutes when Duke toppled NC State 79-56 in Raleigh back on January 20.
Answering questions about the controversial play on Monday, Krzyzewski said he would have suspended Henderson for additional games if he thought the hard foul on Hansbrough had been intentional. Without the 6-4 freshman, Duke will be missing a key member of its backcourt rotation.
“We just deal with it like he had a sprained ankle,” Krzyzewski said. “It just reduces the depth. He’s been practicing really well the last couple of weeks and we see his game elevating. Hopefully when he comes back it will still be at that level and continue to rise.”
In the first and only meeting between the Blue Devils and Wolfpack this season, Duke took advantage of 20 Pack turnovers to win going away. Krzyzewski says turning NC State over on Thursday will be more of a challenge.
“The thing with them is that they didn’t have Atsur then,” Krzyzewski said. “That was an advantage for us. He’s a good player, so they’re a different team. We’ll have to adjust accordingly.”
The Duke game was one of 12 contests missed by NC State point guard Engin Atsur, who was sidelined earlier in the year with a pulled hamstring. Since that time, Atsur’s steady hand and leadership have helped the Wolfpack post impressive wins over the likes of North Carolina and Virginia Tech.
As he gets set to coach in the ACC Tournament for the first time, Lowe will be calling on nostalgia this week, reminding his players that NC State has been successful as a tournament underdog before. Lowe, of course, was the starting point guard on the famous 1983 team that pulled off three consecutive victories -- two of which were upsets -- to win the title in Atlanta. This time, such a run would require four straight victories instead of three.
“This is a totally new season now,” Lowe said. “It’s a one-game elimination and you take it one game at a time. We’ve done it at times when we were favorites, and we’ve done it at times when we were the underdogs. It can be done and we want [the players] to understand that. This is a great opportunity for this team to set a standard and set the stage for someone who’s not expected to do much to do something special. If you ever want to be remembered, do something special.”
The Wolfpack Sports Network will begin its coverage of the ACC Tournament with the Duke -- NC State match-up on Thursday. Airtime will be 6:30. Coverage then continues with every tournament game from Friday through Sunday.
