North Carolina State University Athletics
MBB Opens ACC Play at Wake Forest on Sunday
12/19/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
NC State Travels to Wake Forest: NC State makes the drive down I-40, when the Wolfpack battles Wake Forest in Winston-Salem on Sunday at 7:45 p.m. Both squads will be opening up ACC play, the fourth straight season NC State starts ACC play on the road.
The Pack is off to an 8-1 start to the season, after defeating Elon on Thursday night, 79-76. NC State is a perfect 4-0 in games away from Raleigh this season, winning three games in three days at the Glenn Wilkes Classic in late November, and pulling off a second-half comeback to win at Marquette December 5, 77-73.
The Series Versus Wake Forest: The NC State-Wake Forest rivalry is the oldest series for the Wolfpack, dating back to the 1910-11 season. The two squads have faced each other a total of 229 times, and NC State leads the overall series 131-98.
The Pack holds an 92-53 advantage of games played in Raleigh, and also holds a 14-8 edge when the two teams have faced off on a neutral court. Wake Forest has emerged victorious 37 times in the 62 games played in Winston-Salem (37-25), and a 16-4 edge in games played Lawrence Joel Coliseum.
NC State has won nine of the last 15 games against Wake, including the last four games played in Raleigh. The Pack had lost eight straight from 2000-03.
Under Sidney Lowe, the Pack is 4-2 against Wake. NC State swept the season series in Lowe's first season, and each team has won on its own home court each of the last two seasons. Last year, NC State downed No. 7 Wake Forest in Raleigh, 82-76, and No. 13 Wake won at home at the end of the year, 85-78.
Pack in ACC Openers: NC State is 31-25 all-time in ACC openers, including a mark of 14-17 when opening conference play on the road. This will be the fourth straight season the Pack has opened up ACC play on the road, but the first time in that stretch the opponent is not ranked. In Coach Lowe's first season, the Pack fell at No. 25 Virginia, 67-62, then opened up at No. 1 North Carolina in 2008 losing, 93-62, and last season lost at No. 12 Clemson, 63-51.
Conference Season Starts Early: The Wolfpack is jumping into ACC action early this season as Sidney Lowe's squad travels to Wake Forest. This season marks the second time in Lowe's four seasons the Pack opens ACC play before the new year, as NC State fell at No. 25 Virginia, 67-62, in Lowe's first season.
Prior to that UVA game, the earliest NC State had started conference play in early December was 1967-68 (that year, Norm Sloan's squad played Wake Forest on Dec. 2).
NC State did play against conference teams as early as December 1 in the 1970s, but those games were part of the Big Four Tournament, which did not count into the teams' league records.
Last Season Versus Wake Forest: Last season each team won on its own home court for the second straight season.
NC State defeated its first ranked opponent of the season, as the Pack downed No. 7 Wake Forest, 82-76, at the RBC Center on February 11. Wake Forest jumped out to a 13-6 lead seven minutes into the contest, but the Pack would close the half on a 36-21 and capture a 42-34 lead. NC State would extend its lead to as much as 20 points in the second half (62-42 with 13:49 left), but Wake chipped the lead all the way down to two points with one minute left (78-76). But NC State would hit four of its six free throws, and hold the Deacons without a point the rest of the way. Brandon Costner led the Pack with 23 points, including 11 straight in the second half, and Tracy Smith recorded his first double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds (including 10 offensive rebounds).
No. 13 Wake Forest used a 20-2 first half run and held onto the lead throughout the game, defeating NC State 78-85 in Winston-Salem on February 26. NC State held a slight 22-19 lead at the 11:13 mark, but would score just once on its next 12 possessions as Wake captured a 39-24 lead at the 4:53 mark. NC State would cut into the lead trailing 43-35 at the half, and start the second half on a 9-2 run, but the Pack never could take the lead. Wake's James Johnson had career-highs of 28 points and 18 rebounds and help the Deacons shoot 52.5 percent (32-61) from the field. Tracy Smith led five Wolfpack scorers in double figures as he finished with 18 points, and the Pack committed just eight turnovers.
Last Time Out for NC State: In a game that featured 11 lead changes in the second half, NC State held on to down Elon, 79-76, at the RBC Center Thursday night. Down 39-33 at the half, the Pack opened the second half on a 7-0 run and captured its first lead since scoring the first basket 15 seconds into the game. The game would stay within five points, until the Pack captured a 69-63 lead with 2:48 that the Pack would not relinquish. Elon opened the game on a 15-7 run, and led by as many as 11 points at the 2:19 mark in the first half. Dennis Horner scored a career-best 23 points while Tracy Smith added 21 points.
Second Half Pack: Two times this year the Pack has comeback from double-digit deficits it has faced in the first half.
At Marquette on December 5, NC State overcame an 11-point halftime deficit as the Pack pulled out a 77-73 win. Down 35-25 at the break, NC State opened the second half on an 11-2 run, and used another 17-2 run midway through the half to take control. The Pack shot 71.4 percent (20-28) in that second half, and scored 52 points.
More recently, the Pack avoided a home upset against Elon, pulling out a 79-76 win. Elon started the game on a 15-7 run, and was up by as many as 11 points at the 2:19 mark in the first half. Down 39-33 at the break, NC State opened the second half on a 7-0 run and captured its first lead since scoring the game's first basket 15 seconds in. The game would stay within five points in the second half, with 11 lead changes, until the Pack finally went up for good with 5:24 left.
Smith Leads Charge: It is no secret that a large protion of the NC State offense revolves around forward Tracy Smith. On most offensive possessions, the junior will get his hands on the ball in the low post. With the added attention this year, Smith worked on passing out of the double team for most of the offseason.
At the end of last season, Smith was perhaps the Pack's top offensive weapon. He started 12 of the final 13 games, and averaged 12.2 points in those starts. On the season overall, he increased his scoring average 6.7 points from his freshman season, the third highest increase in the ACC during last season.
Nine games into the 2009-10 season, Smith is leading the offensive charge once again. Smith has recorded four double-doubles in the Pack's first nine games, and was named MVP of the Glenn Wilkes Classic leading NC State to a perfect 4-0 record in the event. He averaged 15.3 points and 11.0 rebounds in the four games.
Smith's biggest impact this year so far was against Auburn in the final game of the Glenn Wilkes Classic. It was Smith's put-back with just 1.3 seconds left that gave the Pack the 60-58 win. Also in that game, Smith pulled down a career-best 15 boards, seven offensive, and also scored 11 points.
Smith also helped the Pack come back from an 11-point halftime deficit at Marquette to gain the road win. Held to just two points in the first half, Smith went 8-of-10 from the field in the second half and scored 17 of his 19 points in the second half.
Smith been the Pack's high scorer in seven of the nine games and top rebounder in eight. For the season, Smith leads the Pack in both scoring (18.3) and rebounding (9.4). In the ACC rankings, he is second in scoring, fifth in reboudning, and seventh in field goal percentage (.569)
Over the last five games, Smith has averaged 20.8 points while shooting 69.2 percent (45-65) from the floor.
Horner the Leader: Senior Dennis Horner is the most experienced Pack player, as he is the only member of the 2009-10 squad to be in his fourth season at NC State. Horner, who signed with Herb Sendek but kept to his committment after the coaching change, came into his final season having seen action in 92 career games.
Nine games into his senior season, Horner is proving to be one of the Pack's leaders. He is second on the team averaging 15.0 points a contest (10th-best in the ACC), connecting on 58.8 percent (50-85) of his shots and 57.9 percent (11-19) from three-point range.
Over the last two games, he has set a new career-high in soring each time out. Against Georgia Southern he had 16, then followed that up with 23 against Elon. He has averaged 19.5 points and 8.0 rebounds over the last two games.
Defense Doing the Job: NC State's defense had been leading the charge to the Pack's 8-1 start to the season. NC State currently ranks third the ACC in scoring defense, giving up 59.8 points a game. Only three oppenents have scored over 60 points, and the Pack held Akron to just 45 points at the Glenn Wilkes Classic.
On the other side of things, the Pack's offense has scored over 70 points just three in the first nine games, but has been over that mark in each of the last three outings. NC State currently ranks last in the ACC in scoring offense at 68.2 points a game.
Gonzalez Misses Time: Junior point guard Javier Gonzalez had started the first seven games of the season at point guard, and 17 straight going back to last season, but missed his first game of the season against Georgia Southern last weekend. Gonzalez suffered a hamstring injury in the first half at Marquette, but returned to score 12 second half points in the Pack's comeback win.
Gonzalez returned to the starting lineup against Elon, and was limited to 20 minutes. He finished with seven points and five assists.
Change to the Starters: NC State started only its second different starting lineup of the season against Georgia Southern last weekend. In the first seven games of the season NC State had the same starting five, but was forced to change it up when sophomore Julius Mays started at point guard for the injured Javier Gonzalez.
The other four positions have had the same starters in the first nine games of the season. Sophomore C.J. Williams has been the starter at shooting guard, freshman Scott Wood at small forward, senior Dennis Horner at power forward, and junior Tracy Smith at center.
Racking Up the Assists: Junior Javier Gonzalez is the Pack's top playmaker when he is on the court. Gonzalez is currently second in the ACC in assists, dishing out 6.4 per game. His season total of 51 thus far is more than double any other Pack player (Julius Mays - 20).
Already this season, Gonzalez has dished out eight assists in three different games.
Gonzalez also currently ranks third on the Pack with his 10.0 points per game, and has pulled down 4.1 rebounds an outing as well.
Over his last five games played, Gonzalez has reached double figures in scoring four times and is averaging 11.0 points, 3.4 rebounds and 6.4 assists.
Davis Making an Impact: Freshman forward Josh Davis might not have been known to many Wolfpack fans when he was a late signee this past spring, but his impact on the court is making him a well known factor for NC State.
The local prduct from Athens Drive High School has come off the bench in each of the first nine games, seeing action at small forward.
Davis has averaged 11.4 minutes a game, and has been productive especially grabbing offensive rebounds. In fact, 14 of his 25 rebounds this season have come on the offensive end, and he is second on the Pack in offensive boards.
Davis' best game to date came at Marquette, as he posted career-bests of nine points and six boards in 16 minutes of action. He also held Marquette's star forward Lazar Hayward to 2-of-6 shooting and forced him into five turnovers in the second half of the Pack's win.
He followed that with a season-best 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting against Georgia Southern, and had six points and five boards in a career-best 17 minutes against Elonn.
Over the last three games, Davis has averaged 8.3 points and 5.0 rebounds while going 11-of-15 (.733) from the field.
Smith Sees Double: Tracy Smith has recorded a double-double in four of the first nine games of the year, the only current Wolfpack player to have logged a double-double during his career.
Smith now has six double-doubles during his career, and the Pack is a perfect 6-0 in those contests.
