North Carolina State University Athletics
Wolfpack falls 63-50 to Miami in ACC Tournament
3/13/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
BY TIM PEELER
Despite a starting lineup shakeup by head coach Sidney Lowe, the Wolfpack had only one offensive threat in the game, freshman forward J.J. Hickson, who missed his first start in the last 25 games after breaking a team rule. In his place, Lowe started a frontcourt that consisted of Brandon Costner, Ben McCauley and Gavin Grant.
Hickson provided an immediate spark for the Wolfpack, as he scored 27 of the team’s 50 points on the day, thanks in great part to making 11 of his 15 free throws. But the Pack made only two of its 15 3-point attempts, and its one-dimensional offense matched the lowest point total of the season.
“It wasn’t really nerves on our part,” Hickson said. “We just got off to a slow start again and that has been a problem for us all year. We just couldn’t knock down any shots to gain any momentum.”
The Wolfpack, already the ACC’s lowest scoring team at 67.9 points per game, did not score its first field goal until reserve Trevor Ferguson hit a layup with 10:35 remaining in the first half. The Wolfpack didn’t get its first field goal by a starter until freshman Javi Gonzalez’s jumper was swatted out of the air and
Hickson breathed life into the Wolfpack, almost single-handedly leading the team to a 14-14 tie with 7:32 remaining in the first half. But the Hurricanes continued to score, while the Wolfpack struggled, with its starters making just five of 23 shots in the game.
The Wolfpack (15-16) played solid defense, holding Hurricanes’ star Jack McClinton without a point until he hit a free throw with 9:41 to play in the game and limiting the Hurricanes to 1-for-9 shooting from 3-point range. The first-team All-ACC selection didn’t get his first field goal until six minutes were left. McClinton finished the game with just eight points, the first time in the Canes’ last 22 games he failed to score in double figures.
“I thought we gave an excellent effort on the defensive end,” Lowe said. “We gave up a couple of offensive rebounds and some hustle plays, but we held them to 36 percent shooting for the game. We did a great job on McClinton.”
The Wolfpack, which made 11 3-pointers in a 79-77 victory over
Miami (22-9), using a 12-2 scoring run, built its lead to as many as 17 points in the second half and did not allow State to get any closer than 10 as the game came to a close.
“We shot 34 percent tonight, and that has hurt us more than anything else this year,” Lowe said. “That really contributes to the slow starts we have had.”
You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
