North Carolina State University Athletics
Spence Excels as Pack Rebounds With 94-60 Win
12/18/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 18, 1973
BY TIM PEELER
RALEIGH, N.C. NC State, suffering from a bit of a UCLA-induced St. Louis hangover, started slowly but managed to begin a new winning streak Tuesday night by routing Georgia 94-60 at Reynolds Coliseum.
Hitting just seven of its first 20 shots and committing nine turnovers in the first 10 minutes, the fifth-ranked Wolfpack stumbled out of the gates, just three days after losing the long-awaited matchup with the top-ranked Bruins, 84-66, Saturday afternoon at the St. Louis Arena.
That loss ended the Pack’s school-record 29-game winning streak. But the win over the Bulldogs started a new one.
It didn’t come easily, despite the 34-point final margin of victory. The Bulldogs scored the game’s first basket to take its only lead of the night. Monte Towe tied the game with a jumper and David Thompson gave his team the lead with a drive to the basket.
Those opening moments were a struggle for coach Norman Sloan’s team, which is now 3-1 on the season. By halftime, however, the Pack was ahead 43-27 and stretched its lead to 35 points in the second half.
After three lackluster halves from the field, Thompson finally heated up again, scoring 20 second-half points for his season-high total of 28.
While center Tommy Burleson had 15 points and Towe had 14, the big surprise of the night came from Raleigh-native Phil Spence, the junior college transfer who is in his first season with the Pack. He had 11 points and a game-high 15 rebounds.
He even had a pair of baskets for Georgia, after tipping in rebounds on missed Bulldog free throws.
“He gives us more quickness and great board strength,” Sloan said.
And better rebounding is something the coach has been looking for since the preseason and he hoped the performance against the Bulldogs will jumpstart the Pack as it prepares for its post-Christmas trip to New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl Tournament.
“We haven’t played well all season,” Sloan said. “But we did some things tonight that have been lacking. We went to the boards better and we were tougher on defense. I really liked our press.”
That pressure defense forced Georgia into making 32 turnovers in front of NC State’s rabid home crowd.
“We caught State at a bad time when they wanted to bounce back from that loss,” said Georgia head coach John Guthrie. “But I did think we’d handle their press better than we did.”
Ed Peterson, a Bulldog newcomer who transferred in from South Carolina, netted 22 points on 10-for-14 shooting, all on mid-range jumpers.
“He was absolutely uncanny with his shooting,” Sloan said. “But I still thought (Mo) Rivers did a good job defensively on him.”
The Pack will take a 10-day break for Christmas, and return to action on Friday, Dec. 28, in the four-team Sugar Bowl Tournament. Memphis State and LSU-New Orleans will kick off the action, followed by NC State and Villanova in the nightcap.
The winners will meet the following night for the championship.
You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
