North Carolina State University Athletics
Terps Run Past Wolfpack, 84-70
2/9/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
BY TONY HAYNES
Down to the Wolfpack by two points at intermission,
Winners of six of their last seven ACC games, the Terrapins (16-8, 6-3) got career performances from point guard Greivis Vasquez and forward James Gist. Falling just one rebound short of a triple-double, Vasquez riddled NC State (15-8, 4-5) all night with 13 points, 15 assists and nine boards.
Gist anchored the frontcourt, powering his way to 30 points and nine rebounds.
After spending most of the season trying to figure out why his team was getting off to slow starts, NC State coach Sidney Lowe is now wondering why the Wolfpack hasn’t been able to come out with focus and energy in the second half of games. Just nine days ago, the Pack led at Duke by nine at the break before eventually falling by 20. And even in taking a 14-point halftime lead over Virginia Tech on Tuesday, NC State struggled to close out the Hokies before finally prevailing by 10 points.
“We didn’t come out with the right intensity,” Lowe said. “We came out somewhat flat and I’m trying to understand why. We’re going to keep an eye on that now and make sure those guys are doing what they’re supposed to do because we can’t get a lead on a team and then come out flat and play the way we did. They scored eight of the first nine times and it was all defense for us.”
In getting 13 points from Gavin Grant and eight from freshman big man J.J. Hickson, NC State controlled most of the opening half. The Wolfpack scored the first seven points of the game, forcing Terps coach Gary Williams to spend a timeout. With 3:31 remaining in the half, a Brandon Costner jumper put the Pack in front 31-22, and again Williams took a timeout.
That’s when the tide started to turn.
Gist scored seven points on a jumper, a dunk and a 3-point basket, igniting a 9-2 end of half run that left the Terps behind 33-31 at intermission. Gist, in fact, was a virtual one man show, scoring 18 of his team’s 31 points in the opening 20 minutes. NC State played the final 4:58 of the half without Hickson, who picked up his second foul on a borderline charging call in the lane.
“His second foul was one he shouldn’t have gotten,” said Lowe. “They called charging on him, and whether it was charging or not, he should have swung the basketball. A guy was wide open on the wing and he tried to create something himself. At some point you’ve got to get past that and learn from those mistakes. That’s probably the most disappointing thing for me right now is that we don’t seem to be learning from those mistakes.”
The second half was all Terps.
Gist, Vasquez and forward Landon Milbourne were all involved in the action as
Vasquez was usually at the center of it all, shredding the Pack defense with dribble penetration and dishing to open teammates. And when he wasn’t setting up others, the 6-5 Brazilian was hunting his own shot, both in the lane and outside. Nine of Vasquez’s points came in the second half.
“He’s a good basketball player,” Lowe said. “He’s determined to get where he wants to go. He’s good with the basketball, he’s got great size, he uses his body extremely well and he’s a good passer. He’s got a good feel for the game and he can see guys open. He was able to get it to the shooters.”
In winning for the 10th time in 11 games overall,
NC State actually made 51.7 percent of its shots in the second half, but simply couldn’t keep up the pace as
Guard Eric Hayes finished with 14 points, while Milbourne and Osby Bambale tallied 11 apiece to join Gist and Vasquez in double-figures.
NC State was led by Grant’s 17 points. Hickson and Courtney Fells had 14 apiece for the Pack, which shot 44.3 percent (27-of-61) for the game.
Both clubs did a good job taking care of the basketball. NC State finished with just nine turnovers, while the Terrapins had 11.
"This is probably the best job we've done in the league,” said
