North Carolina State University Athletics
MBB Hosts Rival North Carolina Tuesday
1/25/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
NC State Hosts North Carolina: NC State returns to home action, when the Wolfpack plays host to rival North Carolina this Tuesday night at 9:00 p.m. The Pack is coming off of an 88-64 loss at Maryland over the weekend, but won its last contest at the RBC Center, a 88-74 win over No. 7 Duke last Wednesday. North Carolina had the weekend off, and is coming off of a 82-69 home loss to Wake Forest last Wednesday.
The game will be broadcasted on Raycom with Tim Brando and Mike Gminiski.
The Series Versus North Carolina: Tuesday’s meeting will mark the 216th between NC State and North Carolina in the series that dates back to the 1912-13 season. The Wolfpack has faced just Duke and Wake Forest more times than the Tar Heels.
UNC holds a 140-75 lead in the series and has won 16 of the last 21 meetings dating back to the 1999-00 season. UNC has won the last six meetings between the teams, and Coach Lowe is 1-6 in his three seasons against the Tar Heels.
The Tar Heels also hold the advantage in games played in Raleigh, 58-44. NC State is 3-7 against UNC in the RBC Center, last winning in 2007 over the No. 3 ranked Tar Heels, 83-79. The Pack also won home contests in 2002 and 2003, the first time NC State won back-to-back years at home since 1995 and 1996.
Last Season Versus North Carolina: North Carolina won both match-ups last season.
No. 5 North Carolina led from start to finish, as the Tar Heels downed NC State 93-76 at the RBC Center on January 31. UNC went into the half up 43-31, and increased its lead to 54-36 before the first media timeout. But the Pack rallied, and cut the lead down to 69-62 with eight minutes left but could get no closer. Courtney Fells led the Pack as he scored 20 of his 22 points in the second half, including four three-pointers. North Carolina took advantage with its frontline, as the Tar Heels outscored NC State 46-16 in points in tha paint, and shot 56.5 percent (35-62) from the field.
No. 3 North Carolina completed the season sweep of NC State, as the Tar Heels downed the Wolfpack 89-80 at Chapel Hill on February 18. UNC held a 39-36 lead at the half, and opened the second half on a 14-2 run, to capture a 53-38 run with 16:25 left. NC State battled back, and got within six pionts at the 10:48 mark thanks to a 19-10 run, but would get no closer. Javier Gonzlaez finished with a team-high 18 points, with 16 coming in the first half, as he hit all four of his three-point attempts. Tracy Smith added 15 points, while Dennis Horner added 13 off the bench. NC State shot 54.1 percent (33-61) from the field, including 64.3 percent in the second half, but UNC hit 55.4 (36-65) for the game.
Last Time Out for NC State: Maryland scored the final four points of the first half and then the first five points of the second half, to take control of the game and came away with a 88-64 win over NC State in College Park Saturday night. Maryland would dominate the second half of play, outscoring the Pack 47-31, thanks to shooting 66.7 percent (16-24) from the floor compared to the Pack hitting just 27.8 percent (10-36). Maryland was the first opponent to shoot over 50.0 percent against the Pack this season, as the Terps were 29-of-54 (.537) from the floor. Tracy Smith recorded a double-double leading NC State with 18 points and 10 rebounds, while Javier Gonzalez hit three first-half three pointers and finished with 13 points.
Pack Taking Down Ranked Foes: NC State took out a pair of ranked opponents and came close to winning a third such game, all in a span of eight days a couple of weeks ago. The Pack faced three straight ranked foes, its first games against a ranked opponent this season.
NC State started the stretch with a 88-81 win at No. 25 Florida State on January 12. The Pack returned home, and despite cutting a 18-point second half deficit down to one late in the game, fell 73-70 to No. 24 Clemson on January 16. The Pack then turned right around, and claimed a 88-74 win over No. 7 Duke on January 20, tying as the second-highest ranked foe Coach Lowe has beated in his four seasons.
NC State's two wins over ranked opponents this season, in only three tries, already has been an improvement from last year's 1-6 mark against top-25 squads.
In Coach Lowe's first three seasons, the Pack complied a record of 6-17 against all ranked foes. NC State was 3-6 at home, 1-10 away, and 2-1 on a neutral court. Lowe's home wins were against No. 3 UNC in 2007, No. 21 Miami in 2008, and No. 7 Wake Forest last season.
Limiting Turnovers: NC State has taken care of the ball lately, as the Pack has committed 11 turnovers or less in five of the last six games (the only game above that mark was 18 turnovers in the win at No. 25 Florida State), and three games were under 10 turnovers.
Over the last three games, against No. 24 Clemson, No. 7 Duke, and at Maryland, NC State has committed just 31 total turnovers.
In the Pack's upset win over Duke, the three primary ball handlers; Farnold Degand, Javier Gonzalez, Julius Mays, combined for just 3 turnovers in 74 combined minutes of play while dishing out 14 assists. At Maryland this past weekend, NC State had 10 first half turnovers, but turned the ball over once in the second half.
Wood Named ACC Rookie of the Week: Scott Wood was named the ACC Rookie of the Week on January 18 for his performance against a couple of ranked foes. Wood averaged 21.0 points and 5.5 rebounds in 33.0 minutes of action at No. 25 Florida State and against No. 24 Clemson.
In the Pack’s 88-81 win at No. 25 Florida State, Wood set career-highs with 31 points and seven rebounds. Wood was 7-of-11 from three-point range, tying for the third-most three-pointers made in a game in NC State history. Wood’s 31 points and seven made three-pointers are both the third-highest single game total for a NC State freshman.
In the Pack’s 73-70 loss to No. 24 Clemson, Wood finished with 11 points and four rebounds in 29 minutes. Wood also finished 3-of-8 from three-point range, hitting three of the Pack’s four three-pointers in the 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.
Smith been the Pack's high scorer in 13 of his 19 games played and the top rebounder in 15. For the season, Smith leads the Pack in both scoring (17.3) and rebounding (8.6). In the ACC rankings, he is six in both scoring and reboudning, and second in field goal percentage (.558).
He celebrated his 22nd birthday with a 23 point effort (career-best versus an ACC foe) in the upset of No. 7 Duke last Wednesday. He was 10-of-12 from the field for the game. He followed that game with a double-double at Maryland, leading the Pack with 18 points and 10 rebounds.
Smith has recorded six double-doubles this season, and was named MVP of the Glenn Wilkes Classic in November 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.
It was Smith's put-back with just 1.3 seconds left that gave the Pack the 60-58 win over Auburn in the final game. Also in that game, Smith pulled down a career-best 15 boards, seven offensive, and also scored 11 points.
