North Carolina State University Athletics
Men's Basketball Travels to Marquette
12/4/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
NC State Travels to Marquette: NC State will play its first true road game this weekend, when the Pack travels up to Marquette for a 3:00 p.m. (eastern) game on Saturday.
NC State has already played three games away from Raleigh, winning three games in three days at the Glenn Wilkes Classic in Daytona Beach, Fla., November 20-22.
The game will be on the Big East Network with James Barbar and Mike Kelley.
The Series Versus Marquette: This is only the fifth matchup between Marquette and NC State, but the second straight year the teams have faced off. The series is currently tied at 2-2. NC State won at home during the 1990-91 season, while Maquette won on its home court in 1991-92. Last season, the Golden Eagles won 68-65 in Raleigh. The first game between the teams occured in the 1974 National Championship game, as NC State won 76-64 in Greensboro.
1974 National Title Match-up: Two days after the Pack downed UCLA in double overtime, NC State would score a 76-64 win over Marquette on March 25, 1974, and bring home the first of NC State's two National Championships.
The first half was tight before two technical fouls on Marquette coach Al McGuire ignited a 10-0 Wolfpack run late in the first half. NC State's lead grew to as many as 19 points in the second half, as the Wolfpack cruised to victory.
David Thompson had a team-high 21 points, while current NC State associate head coach Monte Towe finished with 16 points.
Pack Versus the Big East: NC State is 73-53 all-time against teams that are currently in the Big East Conference. The Pack has faced each team currently in the conference.
During Coach Lowe's first three seasons, the Pack went 3-4 against teams from the Big East. During Lowe's first season in 2006-07, NC State fell at West Virginia, at Cincinnati, and at West Virginia again in the NIT Tournament. Lowe was a perfect 3-0 against the Big East in 2007-08, defeating No. 20 Villanova in the championship of the Old Spice Classic, then winning at home over Cincinnati and at Seton Hall. Last season, Marquette won in Raleigh.
Last Year Versus Marquette: Marquette's Dominic James hit his fourth three-pointer of the game with just 00.4 seconds left, as NC State fell to the Golden Eagles 68-65 at the RBC Center on December 22. Marquette led 65-59 with 3:03 left after two three-pointers by James, but NC State would hit two three-pointers in back-to-back possessions and tie the score at 65-65 with 1:58 left. NC State's Ben McCauley would miss two free throws and a shot with 32 seconds left, and Marquette would score its only points in the last three minutes on that last second shot. Brandon Costner led the Pack's offense, hitting 9-of-10 shots, including all five from three-point range, to finish with a game-high 24 points.
Last Time Out for NC State: NC State suffered its first loss of the season, falling to Northwestern, 65-53, in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge at the RBC Center last Tuesday night. The Pack started the game making just three of its first 17 shots, and fell behind 15-6 midway through the first half. Northwestern would build its lead to as many as 14 points late in the first half, but the Pack would close the score to 47-43 with 8:55 left after an 8-0 run, but get no closer. NC State hit just 2-of-18 from three-point range, and the 53 points were the fewest in 37 games. Tracey Smith had a game-high 23 points, while Javier Gonzalez added 10 points, six rebounds, and six assists.
Defense Doing the Job: NC State's defense had been leading the charge to the Pack's 5-1 start to the season. NC State currently leads the ACC in scoring defense, giving up 55.3 points a game. Only one oppenent has scored over 60 points (Northwestern 65), 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 under 70 points in each of the first six games. NC State currently ranks last in the ACC in scoring offense at 63.8 points a game.
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.
Six games into the 2009-10 season, Smith is leading the offensive charge once again. Smith has recorded three double-doubles in the Pack's first six games, and was named MVP of the Glenn Wilkes Classic leading NC State to a perfect 4-0 record in the event.
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 has led the Pack in scoring in five games, and has led the teams in rebounds in all six. For the season, Smith leads the Pack in both scoring (17.3) and rebounding (9.8). Those marks are both third in the ACC standings.
Over the last two games, Smith has averaged 21.5 points while going over 20 points in both outings.
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.
Six games into his senior season, Horner is proving to be one of the Pack's leaders. He is second on the team averaging 13.8 points a contest, connecting on 55.8 percent (29-52) of his shots and 57.1 percent (8-14) from three-point range.
Racking Up the Assists: Junior Javier Gonzalez is the Pack's top playmaker when he is on the court. Gonzalez is second in the ACC in assists, dishing out 6.5 per game. His season total of 39 thus far is more than triple any other Pack player.
Already this season, Gonzalez has dished out eight assists in three different games.
Gonzalez also currently ranks third on the Pack with his 9.7 points per game, and has pulled down 5.2 rebounds an outing as well.
Over his last three games, Gonzalez has reached double figures in scoring each time and is averaging 11.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 6.7 assists.
