North Carolina State University Athletics
Pack Breezes by NCCU in Non-Conference Finale
2/3/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
BY TIM PEELER
RALEIGH, N.C. Last year, after a couple of week-long layoffs, the NC State men’s basketball team returned to action with a sluggish demeanor head coach Sidney Lowe did not like.
So he made sure this year’s schedule didn’t have any long layoffs in January and February, which is why the Wolfpack played a mid-week game against North Carolina Central Tuesday night at the RBC Center, between Saturday ACC contests.
The Wolfpack opened the game with that same sluggishness, falling behind 10-2 as the Eagles reeled off 10 unanswered points. But after Lowe called a 30-second timeout three and a half minutes into the game, the Wolfpack revved up its engines and reeled off 11 unanswered points of its own.
Lowe’s team never trailed again, whipping the Eagles, 87-59.
Junior Brandon Costner and senior Ben McCauley both posted double-doubles in scoring and rebounding in the contest, as the Wolfpack out-shot the Eagles 57.9 percent to 38.6 percent and out-rebounded them 54-14.
It was the Wolfpack’s largest rebounding margin in a game since out-rebounding UNC-Asheville 73-29 on Dec. 6, 1975. It was also the team’s most total rebounds since picking up 54 on Dec. 15, 2001, also against UNC-Asheville.
Costner led the team with a season-high 25 points and 13 rebounds, while McCauley added 17 points and 12 rebounds. Senior Courtney Fells scored 15 points, all of them in the first half.
“We started a little slow, but after the timeout, I thought our guys got going and got the defense up,” Lowe said. “We got a nice lead. I thought our guys did a nice job of just grinding it out and getting the stops we needed to get the lead.
“We came out a little flat, but we got it back and the second half we were much better.”
The Eagles (2-23) were led by freshman Jamar Briscoe, who pumped in a game-high 28 points.
The Pack’s second-half shooting of 63.0 percent helped it overcome 20 turnovers in the contest. And its inside scoring with McCauley, Costner and sophomore Tracy Smith certainly helped overcome the disappointment of Saturday’s home loss to No. 6 North Carolina.
“This gets us back to the mentality that we can score inside,” McCauley said. “We did that tonight and hopefully we can carry that over.”
Costner added: “There is a sense of renewed vigor around the team, and we are feeling good and confident and we can make things interesting in the second half of the season.”
The Wolfpack (12-8) returns to action Sunday, when it travels to Blacksburg, Va., to play Virginia Tech at 1:30 p.m.
You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
