North Carolina State University Athletics
MBB Back in Road Action at Arizona
12/22/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
NC State Travels to Arizona: NC State will take a rare trip out west of the Mississippi, as the Pack travels to Tuscon to face Arizona on Wednesday night. NC State will be playing out west for the first time since the 2004-05 season, and will be playing its second straight road game after falling at Wake Forest on Sunday in early ACC action.
The Pack is off to an 8-2 start to the season, including a 4-1 mark in games away from Raleigh. NC State won three games in three days at the Glenn Wilkes Classic in late November in neutral site action. On an opponent's home court, NC State pulled off a second-half comeback to win at Marquette December 5, 77-73, and most recently fell at Wake Forest Sunday night, 67-59.
The game will be broadcasted nationally on Fox Sports Net at 10:30 p.m. eastern time.
The Series Versus Arizona: This will be the first meeting between the two teams.
The Pack Versus the Pac-10: NC State will be facing a Pac-10 opponent for only the 21st time in NC State's 100 years of basketball. The Pack is currently 13-7 against teams currently in the Pac-10 conference, topping both Arizona State and Oregon State a total of four times each to lead the way.
Smith Suspended for Arizona Game: Junior Tracy Smith has been suspended for the Wolfpack’s game at Arizona for violating the ACC policy regarding commenting on officials. Smith, who made the comments following the loss at Wake Forest, will continue to practice and travel with the team to Arizona, but will not compete.
Pack Connections at Arizona: NC State fans will see a couple of familiar faces on the bench at Arizona, as a couple of Wolfpack coaches have close ties to the Wolfpack.
Arizona's first-year head coach Sean Miller was a former assistant coach with the Pack for five seasons (1997-01) on Herb Sendek's staff. Miller and current NC State assistant Larry Harris were on staff together for each of Miller's five seasons in Raleigh.
Assistant coach Archie Miller played and later coached at NC State. Miller played for the Pack from 1998-2002, earning a medical redshirt season in 1999. Miller then served as Director of Operations in 2004 and 2005, and was an assistant coach in 2006. During his playing career, Miller connected on 42.8 percent (218-509) from three-point range during his career, including a 57.5 (59-102) percent mark in 2001, the second-best season in Pack history.
NC State's Travels Out West: For the first time since the 2004-05 season, NC State will be playing at a Pac-10 opponent. That season NC State traveled to Washington, as the 12th ranked Pack fell to the 16th ranked Huskies, 68-64.
The Pack's last win on a Pac-10 opponent's home court was during the 1993-94 season, winning at Oregon State, 66-58. NC State did defeat Arizona State in 1996 at the 7-Up Shootout in Phoenix, 89-69.
Last Time Out for NC State: NC State opened ACC play on the road for the fourth straight season, with the Wolfpack falling at Wake Forest, 67-59, Sunday night. Wake Forest shot 51.7 percent in the first half to take a 35-26 lead into the half. The Pack would cut that lead to four points at 42-38 with 14:31 left, but Wake went on a 6-0 run and never had a lead under seven points the rest of the game. Javier Gonzalez had a team-high 18 points to go with eight rebounds, and Tracy Smith had his fifth double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds despite playing only 23 minutes because of foul trouble.
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.
The Pack then avoided a home upset against Elon, pulling out a 79-76 win on December 17. 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. During last season, he increased his scoring average 6.7 points from his freshman season, the third highest increase in the ACC during last season.
Ten games into the 2009-10 season, Smith is leading the offensive charge once again. Smith has recorded five double-doubles in the Pack's first 10 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 10 games and top rebounder in nine. For the season, Smith leads the Pack in both scoring (17.6) and rebounding (9.5). In the ACC rankings, he is third in scoring, third in reboudning, and eighth in field goal percentage (.555)
Over the last six games, Smith has averaged 19.2 points while shooting 64.9 percent (50-77) 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.
Ten games into his senior season, Horner is proving to be one of the Pack's leaders. He is second on the team averaging 14,3 points a contest (14th-best in the ACC), connecting on 55.9 percent (52-93) of his shots and 54.5 percent (12-22) from three-point range.
Over the last three games, he has set a new career-high twice and averaged 15.7 points and 6.7 rebounds. Against Georgia Southern he had 16, then followed that up with 23 against Elon. The Wake game was the first time not in double figures scoring.
Smith Sees Double: Tracy Smith has recorded a double-double in five of the 10 games of the year, the only current Wolfpack player to have logged a double-double during his career.
Smith now has seven double-doubles during his career, and the Pack is 6-1 in those contests, with the first loss coming this season at Wake Forest.
