Haynes: Fells Expected Back for ACC Tournament

By Tony Haynes

Raleigh, N.C. NC State men’s basketball coach Sidney Lowe said Monday that he did expect Courtney Fells to return for Thursday night’s 7 p.m. meeting with Maryland (18-12, 7-9) in the first round of the ACC Tournament in Atlanta.

Fells, a senior guard, missed Saturday’s regular season finale at Miami after straining a groin early in the second half of last Wednesday’s victory over Boston College.

“He’ll be ready to play,” Lowe said. “I think the rest that he received from the Miami game helped. Whether he’ll be 100 percent I don’t know, but he’ll be ready to play.”

In Fells’ absence on Saturday, Lowe inserted Trevor Ferguson into the line-up, anticipating that Miami would play zone. The Hurricanes did indeed employ a 2-3 zone in the first half and Ferguson, seeing his first action since a one-minute stint on the floor against Georgia Tech on February 14, promptly scored the Pack’s first basket of the game on a 3-pointer. He also contributed to holding Miami star Jack McClinton to 0-of-7 shooting in the first half.

Trailing 30-21 lead at the half, Miami abandoned its zone in the second period and turned the game around by playing aggressive, man-to-man halfcourt defense. The Hurricanes would go on to rally for a 72-64 victory, scoring 20 points off of 15 NC State turnovers.

Fells’ offense was missed on Saturday as the Wolfpack (16-13, 6-10) shot just 31 percent in the second half, going 12 minutes without a field goal at one juncture.

If Fells does indeed return on Thursday, he’ll likely get a second match-up with Maryland’s Greivis Vasquez, who torched Fells and the Pack to the tune of 33 points in the Terrapins’ 71-60 victory at the RBC Center on March 1.

A healthy Fells would certainly give NC State a shot in the arm as it tries to atone for that defeat.

"It’s very important,” Lowe said. “We’re going to have to be solid on those guys. The last time it was Vasquez and he’ll probably play well again. Having a healthy Courtney Fells should help us a great deal. We’re going to have to show that we can handle this type of situation and playing against a team with great energy.”

NC State may be able to draw on a little extra incentive in its rematch with the Terps on Thursday. In the final few seconds of the regular season meeting a few weeks ago, Vasquez came down and buried an uncontested 3-pointer to complete his 33-point outburst, although Maryland’s victory was already secure.

After the shot went through, NC State fans booed the dagger shot quite lustily as the teams shook hands and left the floor.

“The fans shouldn’t like it,” Lowe said. “I don’t particularly like it, but like I told my players, you play until the final horn and you don’t relax and let a guy shoot a shot like that. It’s something that you take and you try to remember it and you get another opportunity and try to win the ballgame. The hard feelings for me were just losing the ballgame. I’m not blaming him for doing it. He’s very aggressive, very confident, very cocky and all in impressive ways for him. When you play against someone like him you’ve got to be prepared for that.”

The winner of the NC State Maryland game will advance into the quarterfinals for a 7 p.m. contest against No. 2 seed Wake Forest on Friday.

The Wolfpack Sports Network will provide coverage of NC State’s game on Thursday, starting with the 6:30 pregame show. The Network will then broadcast all four quarterfinal games on Friday, both semifinal contests on Saturday and Sunday’s title game.

North Carolina State University Athletics

Related News

Related Videos