North Carolina State University Athletics
BACK TO '83: Lowe, Myers Lead Fun Night Vs. UNCW
2/16/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 16, 1983
BY TIM PEELER
But that really was senior point guard Sidney Lowe on the court scoring a career-high 23 points in Wednesday night’s 90-61 victory over UNC-Wilmington at Reynolds Coliseum, not his long-time running mate.
“It was a great job by Sidney Lowe,” Valvano said. “He was enjoying the role of shooter tonight. I though it was (Dereck) Whittenburg out there for a while.”
Whittenburg, of course, was not in the lineup. Lowe’s long-time running mate at
In his stead, Myers made 10 of his 24 shots to continue his role as a young scoring machine and Lowe made five of his nine 3-point shots, in addition to his nine assists.
The game, played with the ACC’s experiemental 3-point shot and 30-second shot clock, was an uptempo affair in which four Wolfpack players scored in double figures and all 14 available players saw action.
“It was nice for us to have a game like that,” Valvano said. “It was a game we needed because we could go up and down the court and play.”
And getting their legs loose is important for the Wolfpack players, as they get ready to face defending national champion
But those are worries for a different day. Wednesday’s game was about having a little fun. Not only did Lowe have a career-high, freshman Ernie Myers pumped in 24 points, senior Thurl Bailey had 16 to go along with his 12 rebounds and freshman Terry Gannon had 10.
“We needed a game like that,” Valvano said. “Thurl has been going to the doctor (for the flu). Ernie’s foot has been bothering him. It shows you how important scheduling is. We were a little concerned we might be a little flat playing this game so late in the season.
“In the first half, we were not that much on our game. But in the second half, we played better. And I think the clock was certainly a disadvantage for UNCW.”
The Wolfpack blitzed the Seahawks with scoring flurries at the beginning of each half, opening the game with a 16-2 run and scoring 12 unanswered points after intermission. Combined, those two runs doomed the Seahawks, an independent school in its seventh season of Division I play, from ever making a serious run in the game.
The Seahawks pulled within eight points late in the first half, but Gannon nailed a 3-pointer as time expired to give State a 40-28 halftime advantage.
Bailey and sophomore Cozell McQueen owned the boards, as the Wolfpack out-rebounded the Seahawks 53-36. They combined for 24 of the Pack’s total.
“I’m proud of our kids and the effort that they gave,” Seahawks coach Mel Gibson said. “They did not back down from State one bit, but we just didn’t have the talent to play with them.”
Now, Valvano and company have to see if they have enough talent to take on the Tar Heels and finish out the regular season with enough victories to qualify for a second-consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance. That won’t necessarily be easy with games that follow at Duke, at
“We have a five-game season left,” Valvano said. “Every one of them is important. It’s really a season in itself. How we do will also determine if we make it to post-season play.”
The first obstacle is Dean Smith and the Tar Heels.
“We’ll just come out and play as hard as we can,” Valvano said. “What we must guard against is being too high or too low. I like to think we’ll be more competitive than we were the last time.
“I even hope that we might turn the tables on them.”
You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.com.
