North Carolina State University Athletics
BACK TO '83: Myers' 35 Points Levels Duke, Halts Skid
1/26/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 26, 1983
Editor’s note: At the time, it was not reported that Myers’ 35-point performance was an ACC single-game scoring record for a freshman, but it still stands in the ACC record book 25 years later. That may not be as long as
BY TIM PEELER
The victory snapped the Wolfpack’s three-game losing streak.
“Thank God,” said NC State coach Jim Valvano, who has had very little to celebrate since senior guard Dereck Whittenburg was lost for the season with a broken foot on Jan. 16. “We needed this one.”
Myers, Whittenburg’s replacement in the starting lineup, had the most productive scoring night of his young career. The Parade All-America from
“Ernie had a spectacular game,” Valvano said. “Like I have said before, he’s a scorer, not a shooter. You just don’t realize how many points he’s getting. I had no idea he had 35. When a guy swishes them in from the outside, you sit back and say Wow’ and you know he’s getting a bundle. Ernie just had a super game.”
Looking just at the boxscore, it might be easy to give Myers all the credit for lifting his team out of its recent doldrums, but it wouldn’t be accurate. Much of his scoring came as a result of Lowe’s passing and Bailey’s defensive efforts.
Lowe considered his 18-point, 10-assist, five-steal performance the best game of his career thus far. And Bailey’s contributions of 22 points, seven rebounds and four blocked shots were just as important, particularly in the hard-fought first half when he scored 14 points.
“Those three guys had brilliant games,” said Duke third-year coach Mike Krzyzewski. “They made it very difficult for us.”
Bailey combined with sophomores Lorenzo Charles and Cozell McQueen to clearly overwhelm Duke’s freshmen inside players, Mark Alarie and Jay Bilas, holding them to just 13 points on the night.
Lowe’s leadership on the floor was a primary difference against the Blue Devils’ young and talented squad (7-9, 1-4), which has now lost three in a row.
“If a guard can dominate without scoring a lot, Sidney Lowe did that tonight,” Valvano said. “He made steals, played great defense, made super passes ... he just did it all. The amazing thing is that he hasn’t even been able to practice. He’s playing with a pulled hamstring and tendinitis in both knees.”
In the end, though, Myers was a wave that the Blue Devils had no chance of containing.
“He just keeps shooting,” said Duke guard Tom Emma, who was charged with guarding Myers most of the evening. “I give him a lot of credit. He doesn’t worry about anything. He would keep shooting even if he was missing.”
The Wolfpack needed the 16 first-half points Myers scored to off-set the four 3-pointers Emma scored for the Blue Devils before halftime, to give State a slim 38-36 advantage at intermission. Valvano’s team, mired in a difficult stretch of games against difficult opponents, was happy to see a few things go its way.
“I felt good before the game and the shots just went in and kept going in,” Myers said. “I shot a foul shot that went to the top of the backboard and back in. It was just one of those nights.”
Of Myers’ 19 second-half points, the two most important baskets were the ones that sent the Wolfpack on an 11-0 scoring spurt to take a 53-40 lead. The Wolfpack tried to slow the tempo, but all that did was allow Duke to get back in the game, cutting the lead to 69-66 with 5:08 remaining.
Valvano ordered his team to quicken the pace, and the Pack reeled off a 10-point scoring run, ending with a traditional three-point play by Myers to dash the Devils’ come-back hopes.
“I just felt before the game I would have a good night, because I have had some down games,” said Myers, adding the only time he ever scored more in a single game was the time he had 53 while at St. Tolentine’s in the Bronx, N.Y. “When I take a bad shot, I try not to take a bad shot the next time.
“Duke was playing defense behind me and when I can see the basket, I think I can score against anybody.”
Myers has already logged some of the biggest scoring nights in school history. He had 25 points against Clemson and tied Clyde Austin’s 1977 freshman scoring record of 27 points 10 days ago against Georgia Tech. But consistency is still an issue for the young scorer.
“I tell him to take the good shot, to be patient,” Lowe said of his newest backcourt mate. “I remind him, when he’s bogged down, we have to go into our offense, not go one-on-one, that his scoring is going to come.”
So is a more patient Myers just around the corner?
“We’re still working on it,” Lowe said, laughing. “It’s going to take a little time, but before it’s over, he’ll get the hang of it.”
You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
