North Carolina State University Athletics
Pack Downs UNCG 79-52 for 4th Straight Win
11/30/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
BY TIM PEELER
RALEIGH, N.C. NC State senior Ben McCauley is focused on only one thing right now: getting rebounds.
Sure, points tend to follow, especially when those rebounds are on the offensive end of the floor. But McCauley knew coming into this season, without the presence of forward-center J.J. Hickson in the Wolfpack lineup, that he had to establish himself as a powerful rebounder.
“I feel like every shot that goes up is anybody’s ball, and I want it to be mine,” McCauley said. “I want to get after it. That is one thing I have concentrated on more than anything, more than offense, more than shooting, just getting those rebounds because we really need that.
“Teams that are successful have great rebounders.”
For the last two games, including Sunday afternoon’s 79-52 victory over UNC Greensboro at the RBC Center, McCauley has established himself as a rebounder, posting back-to-back double-doubles. Last year, McCauley did not get double-figure scoring and rebounding once now he’s accomplished the feat twice in four games.
Sunday, he finished with 17 points and a career-best 15 rebounds against the Spartans, who really had no match for McCauley and reserve sophomore center Tracy Smith, who came off the bench to notch his second consecutive double-digit game, with 14 points on seven of 11 shooting.
The Wolfpack (4-0) maintained its ACC best scoring defense by limiting the Spartans (1-3) to just 33.9 shooting from the field and dominating the glass with a 49-37 rebounding advantage.
“I thought we did a real nice job on the boards,” Wolfpack head coach Sidney Lowe said after the game. “[UNCG] had averaged 17 offensive rebounds a game. We didn’t allow them to get to their quota today [allowing only 11 for the game].
“I thought our whole team played with good energy.”
The Pack took some quick 3-pointers early in the game, but settled back into a transition offense after falling behind for two possessions, 11-10. But that didn’t last long, as Fells and McCauley helped their team build as much as a 17-point advantage in the first half.
The game was quite different from the close game the two teams played at the RBC Center two years ago, which went down to the wire before the Wolfpack won 95-93.
Sunday, Fells energized his team and the RBC Center crowd of 12,474 with a pair of monster dunks in the first half, while McCauley stole the ball at mid-court and went in for a one-handed dunk. Moments later, McCauley made a power move on the baseline that gave his team its biggest lead of the first half, 39-22.
The Spartans (1-3) scored the final six points of the first half, to trail 39-28 at intermission, but the Wolfpack came out strong in the second half and never turned back.
UNCG junior Kendall Toney was the only Spartan in double-digits, with 16 points.
State’s shooters struggled from 3-point distance, making just five of 21 shots from the newly expanded arc. But as a team, the Wolfpack shot 47.2 percent from the field, thanks to McCauley’s 8-for-12 and Fells’ 9-for-13 performances from the field.
Sophomore point guard Javi Gonzalez, making his third start in place of injured junior Farnold Degand, had his best game of the season, scoring nine points, handing out seven assists without a turnover and grabbing six rebounds.
As a team, the Wolfpack dished out a season-high 22 assists for its 34 field goals.
“We were moving the ball well, playing unselfish,” Lowe said. “Early, we took a lot of quick threes, but we settled in and started to move the ball around and make them move the ball around.”
Lowe said he considered putting Degand, who has been out since the first half of the season-opener at New Orleans, into the lineup late in the game, but chose not to, even though Degand has been cleared to resume participation.
“Farnold was ready to get some action today, but he hadn’t practiced yet, so this would have been his first contact,” Lowe said. “I really didn’t want to play him if we didn’t have to, [because] the other side of it was that I didn’t want to get him hurt.
“[But] he is ready to go.”
Degand could see action on Saturday when the Wolfpack travels to Charlotte to face No. 24 Davidson at Bobcats Arena. Tickets for the game are available from this Ticketmaster link.
Last year, the Wolfpack downed the Wildcats 66-65 on a pair of free throws by senior Gavin Grant. Lowe will give his team Monday off, then spend the rest of the week preparing for the Wildcats, who are led by junior Stephen Curry.
You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
