Gary Hahn's Scouting Report: The ACC Tournament

NC STATE IN THE 55th ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT

DATE: Thur.-Sun., March 13-16, 2008 @ Bobcats Arena, Charlotte, NC

RADIO: Wolfpack Sports Network

AIRTIMES: Thursday, March 13 at 11:30 a.m., Friday, March 14 at 11:30 a.m. & 6:30 p.m., Saturday, March 15 at 1:00 p.m., Sunday, March 16 at 12:30 p.m.

TELEVISION: Raycom/Lincoln Financial Sports, ESPN and espn2

TOURNAMENT HISTORY -- In the early years of the ACC Tournament, everyone regarded the tournament champion as the ACC champion. However, it wasn't until July 1, 1961, that the words "and the winner shall be the conference champion" were added to the ACC bylaws. NC State won the first three ACC Tournament championships and has notched ten titles overall. The last ACC championship for NC State came in 1987 when the Wolfpack beat UNC 68-67. Overall, the Pack has a 61-44 ACC Tournament record. It is the third best in the league behind North Carolina and Duke.

For the 55th ACC Tournanent, the Pack will enter as a No. 12 seed. This will be the second ACC Tournament for Sidney Lowe as State’s head coach. He led the Wolfpack to the championship game last year.

State has a 16-11 record in the ACC Tournament with four trips to the championship game since 1996-97. State has recorded at least one ACC Tournament victory in 9 of the last 11 years.

The most points ever scored by an NC State player in ACC Tournament competition is shared by two men. Tommy Burleson tallied 38 points against Maryland in 1974 while David Thompson torched Virginia for 38 in 1975.

John Richter holds NC State's single game ACC Tournament rebounding record with 23 against South Carolina in 1959. Phil DiNardo, Herb Applebaum, Joe Cafferky, and Chris Corchiani share the school's single tournament game assist record with nine. The Wolfpack's best field goal percentage in an ACC Tournament game came in 2000 when NC State hit 25 of 41 shots (.610) against Virginia in the quarterfinal round.

Since being moved from NC State's Reynolds Coliseum where it was held from 1954-66, the ACC Tournament has been hosted at the Charlotte Coliseum, the Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland, the Omni and Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia, Washington’s Verizon Center, Tampa’s St. Pete Times Forum and the Greensboro (N.C.) Coliseum. This is the first time Bobcats Arena has hosted the event.

MIAMI IS STATE’S FIRST-ROUND OPPONENT--The Wolfpack will face No. 5 seed Miami On Thursday, March 13, 2008 at approximately 2:30 p.m. The Pack beat the Hurricanes in Raleigh 79-77 in overtime on January 19^th. Gavin Grant’s steal and layup with 2.1 seconds left gave the Pack its first ACC win of the season. J.J. Hickson scored on a rebound basket to tie the game with 3.9 seconds remaining. On the ensuing inbounds pass, Grant stole the ball and scored. The Pack finished the game 11-of-18 from 3-point range (.611).

The Hurricanes enter the ACC Tournament at 21-9 overall and 8-8 in the ACC. The Canes won 5 of their last 7 games , but fell at Florida State in overtime 75-72 on March 8^th to end the regular season.

Miami has one of the ACC’s top scorers in senior Jack McClinton. In his last 3 games, McClinton has averaged 25.7 points a game.

McClinton is also the league’s best 3-point shooter. He has made more 3-point shots than any ACC player this season (84) while shooting a blistering .442 from the bonusphere. Against the Wolfpack on Jan. 19, McClinton scored 26 points and was 4-of-9 from behind the arc.

In ACC games, Miami is one of the top-five rebounding teams in the league. They get back nearly 40 percent of their missed shots. The Canes also do a good job taking care of the ball and limiting turnovers. They’re also good at the foul line (.771 in ACC games).

Where Miami has struggled somewhat is defending the perimeter, allowing ACC teams 39 percent shooting from the bonusphere and nearly eight, 3-point goals per game.

PROBABLE MIAMI STARTERS

No.  Name               Pos.  Ht.   Class PPG   RPG   APG

23    James Dews        G     6'3   Fr.   10.3  2.8   1.9

33    Jack McClinton    G     6’1   So.   17.4  2.3   2.6

01    Lance Hurdle      G     6'2   Jr.   8.0   2.0   2.4

21    Dwayne Collins    F     6'8   Fr.   9.5   6.6   1.0*

50    Anthony King      F     6’9   RSr.  7.1   7.4   1.5* 

TOP RESERVES:

32    Brian Asbury      F     6’7   So.   9.2   4.1   1.6

01    Lance Hurdle      G     6'2   Jr.   8.0   2.0   2.4  

05    Eddie Rios        G     6'0   Fr.   3.7   1.2   2.1

42    Raymond Hicks     F     6’7   SR.   5.2   3.1   --

00    Jimmy Graham      F     6’8   Jr.   5.8   5.0   1.0* 

* Blocked shots per game

 A STATE WINWould snap an 8-game losing streak and move the Wolfpack into Friday’s ACC quarterfinals against Virginia Techa team it beat 73-63 in Raleigh during the regular season on Feb. 5^th. The Pack would beat Miami for the fourth time in the last five games of the series and advance to the ACC quarterfinals for the second straight year. The victory would assure the Pack of at least a .500 overall season record and would keep hopes alive for an ACC championship and a possible trip to the post-season. State would improve to 16-15, while Miami would drop to 21-10.

 

A STATE LOSSWould end the season for the Wolfpack with 9-straight losses, it’s longest losing streak since 1992. State would drop to 15-16 and suffer its first losing season since the 2000-01campaign when the Pack finished 13-16. State would lose in the first-round of the ACC Tournament for the second time in the last 3 years. Miami would improve to 22-9 overall and advance to face Virginia Tech in the ACC quarterfinals on Friday.

MR. T Trevor Ferguson has played sparingly this season, but lately he has been one of the Pack’s most consistent scorers. The redshirt sophomore came off the bench to lead State in scoring in back-to-back games against Virginia and FSU. He recorded a career high 17 points against Florida State on Feb. 27.  In his last 4 games, Ferguson has averaged 10.8 points (43) while shooting 10-of-16 from the three point arc.

BIGGER BENCH With Trevor Ferguson and Tracy Smith leading the way, the Wolfpack’s bench outscored Florida State’s reserves 36-2 on Feb. 27. In the last 5 games, the Pack’s bench has averaged 27.8 points (139).

 

WANTED: DEFENSE-- During its 8-game losing streak,  State’s defense has allowed an average of 79.5 points a game (636). Opponents are shooting .471 from the field (233-473) and .460 from the 3-point arc (57-124) during that stretch.

THE MAGIC NUMBER IS... State is 3-1 against ACC opponents when holding them to 70 points or less, but only 1-11 when yielding 71 points or more.

A TALE OF TURNOVERS In the last 6 games, opponents have outscored the Pack 122-42 in points off turnovers. State is 3-2 in ACC games when recording as many or fewer turnovers than its opponents. The Pack is 1-10 when losing the turnover battle in conference play. 

SECOND HALF ISSUESDuring its 8-game losing streak, State has allowed opponents an average of 39.6 second-half points (317) as well as .506 shooting from the field (114-225) and .460 from 3-point range (29-63) in the final 20-minutes.

MR. CLUTCH Gavin Grant is State’s top scorer in ACC games (13.4) and he has made some big shots. Three times this season, Grant’s heroics in the final seconds have won games for the Pack. His steal and layup with 2.1 seconds left in overtime gave State a 79-77 victory over Miami on Jan 19. Grant’s free throws against Villanova and Davidson were also game-winners. At Duke on Jan. 31, the senior forward scored a career-high 26 points.

A FINE LINE The Pack’s four ACC wins have been decided by an average of only 4.3 points.

ALL-ACC ROOKIE CANDIDATE --J.J. Hickson leads all ACC freshmen in rebounding (8.4) and double-doubles (9) while running a close second to Wake Forest’s James Johnson in scoring (14.4). The Marietta, Georgia, native leads the conference in field goal percentage (.592) and is one of the league’s top rebounders.  Hickson was chosen as the ACC Rookie of the Week for the third time on Jan. 28^th after he averaged 14 points and 10 rebounds in games against Georgia Tech and FSU. Hickson leads the Pack in scoring, rebounding and blocked shots (46). However, he has struggled recently. In the last 4 games, he has averaged 8.8 points (35) and 5.5 rebounds (22).

ACC RECORD J.J. Hickson set an ACC single game freshman record with 23 rebounds in a loss to Clemson on Feb 16. If he continues to rebound at his current pace (8.3) he will break the NC State single season freshman record for rebounding average set by Kenny Carr in 1975 (8.2).

WANTED: REBOUNDING Despite J.J. Hickson’s rebounding numbers, the Pack has outrebounded only 5-of-16 ACC opponents. In the last 8 games, State has been outscored 102-82 on second chance points.

 

BOMBS AWAY State is shooting an impressive .397 from 3-point range in conference games. Even during the 8-game losing streak, State’s 3-point shooting has been solid (.382). State has made 57-of-149 from the bonusphere during that span.

FOUL ME State is getting to the foul line an average of nearly 20 times a game against ACC opponents and is shooting .726.

 

AT THE POINT Freshman Javier Gonzalez and sophomore transfer Marques Johnson were pushed into service following a season-ending knee injury to starting point guard Farnold Degand on December 23^rd. The progress has been slow, but Gonzalez is stepping up. Against Duke on Mar. 1, Gonzalez scored a career high 18 points and committed only one turnover in 32 minutes. He dished out a career high 9 assists vs. North Carolina on Feb. 20.  In his last 14 games, Gonzalez has averaged 6.4 points (89), 2.2 rebounds (31), 3.4 assist (48) and 2.1 turnovers (30). He leads the Wolfpack in steals (30).

TOUGH SCHEDULE State is 2-6 against foes ranked in the nation’s top-25. The Pack has faced more ranked opponents than any ACC team and is the only league team to face Duke and UNC twice.

DOUBLING UP Courtney Fells scored in double-figures in 12-of-16 ACC games this season and is the team’s No.3 scorer in league games (12.5) while shooting .500 from the field and .452 from the 3-point arc. His clutch 3-pointer with 18-seconds to play in overtime was huge in State’s win over Miami on Jan.19. 

F-I-N-I-S-HState has won 3 ACC games this season after enjoying a halftime lead (Miami, FSU and Virginia Tech). However, the Pack lost to Maryland and twice to Duke after holding a lead at the half. Against Wake Forest on Feb. 3, State trailed by 7 points at the break, but rallied to win.

North Carolina State University Athletics

Related News

Related Videos