North Carolina State University Athletics
Pack, Thompson Smack Clemson, 96-68
1/12/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 12, 1974
BY TIM PEELER
But the Tigers made sure the fourth-ranked Wolfpack knew it had been in a skirmish, even if Stormin’ Norman Sloan’s team barely broke a sweat in beating Clemson 96-68 in front of 12,400 fight fans at Reynolds Coliseum.
The first punch came from the unlikeliest source: Soft-spoken NC State All-America David Thompson. The normally shy 6-foot-4 forward is extremely hard to rile up. And usually if an opponent gets under his skin he just hangs half-a-hundred on them and moves on.
But Saturday afternoon in the Wolfpack’s Atlantic Coast Conference opener, the high-flying superstar got so upset with Clemson’s Jeff Reisinger after nearly 15 minutes of pushing, prodding, shoving and elbowing, Thompson went with a different tactic: a punch to Reisinger’s face.
“He was guarding me pretty close,” Thompson said, his only comment about the incident.
Thompson was assessed with a flagrant foul after the incident, but remained in the game. However, he was not his usual self, scoring just 16 points in 29 minutes. He was one of five Wolfpack players to reach double figures.
Reisinger was much worse for the wear: he was ejected from the game two minutes after being punched by Thompson for jumping on center Tommy Burleson’s back during an on-court scuffle.
Now, less than 24 hours later, the Wolfpack must be prepared for another heavyweight, as it prepares to play third-ranked Maryland, in a second Super Bowl Sunday showdown, this time at noon in Reynolds Coliseum. It’s the only time this season that the Pack is slated to play ACC opponents on back-to-back days.
Saturday’s rough-and-tumble series of events kept the Tigers close, with the score being 31-30 right before Reisinger was sent to the bench. But the Pack turned up its defensive pressure and unfurled its ruffled feathers to score the final 15 points of the first half and take a 46-30 lead into intermission.
The Tigers weren’t a threat after that, especially after the Wolfpack opened the second half with a 10-1 run.
Defense was the key throughout the game, as the Wolfpack’s pick-pocket lineup forced 38 turnovers, including one stretch in which the Tigers threw the ball away on five consecutive possessions. Junior guard Moe Rivers was responsible for many of them, taking the ball away from the Tigers for 10 steals. Thompson and Towe had five steals each.
Towe was the beneficiary of many of those steals, scoring 15 of his season-high 19 points in the first half, with five baskets coming on fast-break layups.
“That pressure defense was working today,” Thompson said. “Yeah, I’d say it was the best of the year for us.”
Sloan was red-faced at times during the contest with Clemson’s treatment of his team, but it was kind of hard to tell with his school-colored wardrobe, which included a red-checked leisure suit and red patent leather shoes. Mostly, he liked how his team responded.
“I was especially pleased with the defense,” Sloan said. “It seems to be getting better and better.”
The Wolfpack offense was pretty good as well, hitting 53.4 percent of its shots from the field and 75 percent of its free throws.
Sloan tinkered a bit with his lineup for the game, inserting
Stoddard had six points and four rebounds coming off the bench.
After the Wolfpack went ahead by more than two dozen points, Sloan pulled all of his starters and allowed his deep bench to finish out the game. Steve Nuce (13) and Dwight Johnson (10) each scored in double figures from the bench.
“I thought Stoddard and Nuce both played their best games of the year,” Sloan said. “They’ve both been working hard to improve and it paid off.”
You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
