North Carolina State University Athletics
Hobbled Pack Whips Winston-Salem State, 74-46
12/13/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
BY TIM PEELER
RALEIGH, N.C. Even with two beginning-of-the-season starters out of action and Brandon Costner suffering a gash above his right eye, NC State had no shortage of weapons Saturday afternoon to defeat out-manned Winston-Salem State at Reynolds Coliseum.
With junior point guard Farnold Degand in street clothes for disciplinary reasons and senior small forward Courtney Fells on the bench in his warm-up suit with a gimpy ankle, the Wolfpack (5-1) easily out-gunned the Rams, 74-46, in front of 5,384 spectators.
The 28-point win was the largest margin of victory in head coach Sidney Lowe’s three-year tenure at the school, the third time this year that mark has been set, following a 26-point win over Winthrop and a 27-point win over UNC Greensboro. Prior to this season, Lowe's largest margin of victory was 25 points, which happened against N.C. Central and South Carolina State and two years ago against Virginia Tech.
Lowe used a revamped lineup to start the game, inserting senior forward Simon Harris in place of Fells and replacing freshman C.J. Williams with junior shooting guard Trevor Ferguson. It was the first starts for both Harris and Ferguson, a pair of transfers, in their NC State careers. Lowe also found plenty of playing time for all the other regulars on his roster.
Harris and Ferguson had a hand in the Pack’s first 10 points, with each getting a basket and an assist. Harris scored on a layup and passed to Ben McCauley for an easy layup, while Ferguson hit a 3-pointer and passed to Brandon Costner on the wing for another bonus shot.
“It was important to come out and get this win,” said Ferguson, who scored 12 points, including a stretch of nine in a row in the second half. “We wanted to do it from the defensive end and we definitely did that. It was a team effort. We can’t say enough about the unselfishness we have had.
“It’s going to take us a long way this year.”
Costner left the floor five minutes into the game with a cut he received while tussling with Winston-Salem State's Paul Davis for a rebound under his own basket, but he returned later in the half with a few stitches and a bandage. He played only four minutes in the second half after suffering from some dizziness.
In the end, it didn’t matter as Lowe made liberal substitutions throughout the game, sending in 14 of the remaining 15 players on his roster at some point in the game.
“That’s definitely something different this year,” said senior Ben McCauley, who led the Pack with 14 points and nine rebounds, coming up one board short of his fourth consecutive double-double. “In years past in particular, Coach Lowe’s first year we didn’t have much on the bench at all.
“This year we have two full lines, a first five and a second five.”
A total of 10 players scored for the Wolfpack, with McCauley and Ferguson leading the way. Junior Dennis Horner was the only other double-figure scorer, getting 11 points and seven rebounds, his most productivity since the 2007 National Invitation Tournament. But getting as much playing time for everyone was the point of this game, which fell during NC State’s winter exam period.
“It’s good to have these games to develop and work all the kinks out really,” McCauley said. “If you have something wrong, you can work that out. We are all coming along right now and getting solid play we need to have.
“We have some games coming up that are going to be tough: East Carolina, Marquette and Florida. These games are good to develop the young guys, to get some rhythm and some chemistry.”
Jamal Durham led Winston-Salem State (1-7) with 12 points.
Lowe was mostly pleased with his team’s effort in its first action since losing its first game of the season, to No. 22 Davidson, last Saturday. However, he shared a few instructive words with his backcourt after the Pack committed 10 turnovers in the first half. His team finished with 16 miscues for the game.
But his defense held the Rams to 28.1 percent shooting from the field and the Pack owned a 47-30 rebounding advantage.
“I thought our guys came out and played with good energy from the start of the ball game,” said Lowe, whose team shot 51.9 percent from the field. “We didn’t take care of it as well as we wanted to at the beginning of the game. They did a nice job coming out and changing defenses and trapping us. I thought our guys settled down and played a pretty good ball game.”
NC State returns to action Wednesday at 7 p.m. when it faces East Carolina at the RBC Center.
You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
