North Carolina State University Athletics
Pack Whips Georgia Tech in North-South Opener
2/9/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 8, 1974
BY TIM PEELER
CHARLOTTE, N.C. This was just the kind of vacation NC State’s second-ranked Wolfpack needed from the rigors of play in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
David Thompson and Company quickly, yet mercifully, dispatched Georgia Tech 98-54 in the opening game of the 16th-annual North-South Doubleheader Friday night at the Charlotte Coliseum.
“I don’t mean to sound derogatory, but they were obviously out-manned,” said Wolfpack coach Norman Sloan, decked out in a pink suit. “We played a lot of people (17 in all). Some played well and some didn’t.
“It’s just hard to grind it out when you have someone out-manned.”
The Wolfpack (17-1 overall) will now quickly turn its attention to Southern Conference-leading Furman, which lost to North Carolina in Friday’s second game.
The Yellow Jackets (4-14) stayed close for the first six minutes of the game, but the Wolfpack exploded for a 17-0 scoring burst. In the final 10 minutes of the first half, State out scored the Jackets 29-4 and owned a 47-24 advantage at intermission.
In the second half, point guard Monte Towe ignited a 14-2 rush and the Wolfpack led 75-38 with 10:38 remaining. On inbounds play, the diminutive guard looked over at game official Steve Honzo on an inbounds play and asked “You ready to go home?”
Towe inbounded the ball, caught a feedback pass and drained a 30-foot jumper. From that point forward, the Wolfpack was ready to call it a night.
“The difference in the game was when they threw up the ball (at the start of the game) and we didn’t jump,” said Georgia Tech coach Dwane Morrison.
With 10:23 remaining in the game, following a Towe-led 14-2 scoring spurt, the Wolfpack led 75-38, and it appeared that North-South record for margin of victory was about to fall. As it turned out, the Wolfpack came up one point short of that record of 45 points, set by North Carolina a few years ago, as Sloan played an all-reserve lineup over the game’s final eight minutes.
Three Wolfpack players scored at least 20 points: Towe with a game-high 21 and David Thompson and Tommy Burleson with 20 each. Junior Moe Rivers added 12 and a total of 12 players scored.
No Georgia Tech player scored in double figures, though Steve Sonneberg and Henry Allen mustered eight each and 10 Yellow Jacket players got their names in the box score by getting at least one point.
State was a little sloppy against the out-matched opponent, hitting just 48.9 percent of its shots and committing 17 turnovers. But the Jackets were buried by their 29.6 percent shooting from the field and 20 turnovers.
You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
