North Carolina State University Athletics
MBB Hosts Holy Cross Wednesday
1/5/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
NC State Hosts Holy Cross: NC State will return to home action this Wednesday night, as the Pack plays host to Holy Cross at 7:00 p.m. at the RBC Center. The game is the second of a season-long three game homestand, and also marks the Pack's final non-conference game before the ACC slate swings into full action this weekend.
The game will be available on GoPack.com's Pack Pass.
The Series Versus Holy Cross: Wednesday's matchup between NC State and Holy Cross will be only the seventh game between the two teams, and the first meeting since the 1975-76 season. The Pack currently leads the overall series, 4-2, and the series is tied 1-1 in games played in Raleigh. The Pack does hold a 3-1 edge in neutral site games.
The two teams last met in the 1976 NIT quarterfinals in New York, with the Pack winning 78-68. The teams met in Raleigh in 1952-53 with a Pack win, 76-74, and Holy Cross won in Raleigh in 1959-60, 63-61.
Last Time Out for NC State: Florida's Chandler Parson hit a desperation 75-footer as time expired, as the Gators downed the Pack in the final seconds for the second straight year, 62-61, at the RBC Center in overtime on Sunday. NC State went into the half up 29-27, and the lead never got larger than four points for either team in the half before overtime. NC State scored the first five points of overtime, and held a 57-52 lead with 22 seconds left. The Pack went 5-of-8 from the free throw line in the final 22 seconds, including 1-of-2 with two seconds left before Parson's final shot. Tracy Smith had game-highs of 21 points and nine rebounds, and Scott Wood hit 4-of-8 three-pointers and finished with 12 points.
RBC Center Dominance Against Non-Conference Foes: NC State's home court has not been welcoming to non-conference opponents since the RBC Center opened for the 1999-2000 season, as the Pack has posted an 83-11 (.883) record in such games. Under Coach Lowe, the Pack has posted a 27-5 (.844) mark against non-conference opponents at home, losing only to No. 10 Alabama in 2007, New Orleans in 2008, a last second defeat to Marquette last season, and Northwestern and Florida this year.
NC State has been even more impressive at home against against non-conference opponents from the state of North Carolina. The Wolfpack has won the last 22 games against in-state non-conference foes at the RBC Center, and 24 of 25 overall at the RBC Center, only losing in the 2000-01 season to Charlotte.
Second Half Pack: Two times this year the Pack has comeback from double-digit deficits it has faced in the first half. On the season, NC State has outscored its opponents 516-449 in the seconds half of play (36.9-32.1). NC State has outscored the opponent in 10 of the 14 games this season, including seven of the last outings.
At Marquette on December 5, NC State overcame an 11-point halftime deficit as the Pack pulled out a 77-73 win. Down 35-25 at the break, NC State opened the second half on an 11-2 run, and used another 17-2 run midway through the half to take control. The Pack shot 71.4 percent (20-28) in that second half, and scored 52 points.
The Pack then avoided a home upset against Elon, pulling out a 79-76 win on December 17. Elon started the game on a 15-7 run, and was up by as many as 11 points at the 2:19 mark in the first half. Down 39-33 at the break, NC State opened the second half on a 7-0 run and captured its first lead since scoring the game's first basket 15 seconds in. The game would stay within five points in the second half, with 11 lead changes, until the Pack finally went up for good with 5:24 left.
NC State almost made it a third game at Arizona on December 23. NC State trailed 31-23 at the half back, and was down 69-61 with 53 seconds left. The Pack battled back to tie the score at 74-74 with six seconds left, but Arizona hit the gamewinning shot with less than a second to go. Javier Gonzalez led the charge with 16 second-half points, including the Pack's last 10 points in the final 30.4 seconds.
Three-Point Range Found: NC State has taken advantage of opponents double-teaming Tracy Smith in the post, as the Pack's perimeter game has been red hot.
NC State has averaged 8.8 three-pointers a game the last four games, connecting on 10 apiece against both Winthrop and UNCG. In the last four games, the Pack has hit 35-of-80 (.438) percent from long range with no fewer than seven in a game.
Javier Gonzalez has at least one three-pointer in an ACC-best 10 straight games.
Gonzalez the Offensive Threat: Javier Gonzalez took control of the Pack's point guard position late last season, and has been one of the Pack's top offensive players this season. He currently ranks third on the team in scoring, averaging 11.7 points, and his 70 assists rank him sixth in the ACC and are more than double the next highest Wolfpack player.
Over the last five games, he has averaged 14.4 points, shooting 52.2 percent (24-46) from the field. Gonzalez has also averaged 5.8 rebounds in that span, including a career-best 10 against Winthrop.
Even more impressive was his play late in recent road games, at Wake Forest and at Arizona.
At Wake Forest, Gonzalez scored 11 straight points for the Pack in the second half, and 13 of the Pack's final 15 points in the game. At Arizona, Gonzalez had 16 second-half points, including the Pack's final 10 points all in the final 30.4 seconds of the game.
Wood Breaks Out of Slump: Freshman forward Scott Wood was thrust into the Pack's starting lineup in the preseason, and started off strong averaging 9.0 points in the first four games of the season. He then went into a bit of a slump, scoring just 2.8 points over the next five outings, including struggling from three-point range hitting just 2-of-18 attempts.
But Wood has returned to his early season form, averaging 11.0 points over the last five games shooting 19-of-37 from the field and 15-of-31 from three-point range. Wood hit a career-high five three-pointers at UNC Greensboro, and has made 12 three-pointers over the last three games with at least three each time out.
Rebounding is Team Effort: Even though Tracy Smith ranks fourth in the ACC in rebounding at 9.1 a game, including five double figure efforts, much of the Pack's rebounding could be called a team effort. In the season stats, six different players are averaging between 2.8 and 5.0 rebounds.
Over the last four games, three different Wolfpack players have reached double figures in rebounds. Smith had 10 at Wake Forest, freshman Jordan Vandenberg (filling in for the suspended Smith) had 11 at Arizona, and Javier Gonzalez pulled down a career-best 10 boards against Winthrop.
