North Carolina State University Athletics
Road Swing Begins Tuesday Night at Clemson
1/24/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
NC State (12-7, 2-3 ACC) at Clemson (13-6, 2-3 ACC)
January 25, 2011 • 7:00 PM
Littlejohn Coliseum (10,000) • Clemson, S.C.
TV Coverage: Fox Sports South
NC State Game Notes | Clemson Game Notes | GameTracker
NC State Travels to Clemson: NC State begins a stretch of playing four of the next five ACC games on the road, as the Wolfpack travels to Clemson for a 7 p.m. contest on Tuesday. The Pack is on a quick turnaround, having downed Miami at home on Sunday.
The Wolfpack (12-7, 2-3 ACC) snapped a three-game ACC skid by downing Miami, 72-70, at the RBC Center. NC State will also be looking for the first ACC road win this season.
The Tigers (13-6, 2-3 ACC) have dropped their last two ACC games, after back-to-back conference wins. Last week, Clemson fell at North Carolina (75-65) and then at Maryland (79-77), but the Tigers are 2-0 in home ACC games this season.
This game will be televised on Fox Sports South with Chip Caray and Mike Gminiski.
The Series Versus Clemson: Tuesday’s matchup will be the 143rd meeting between NC State and Clemson with the Wolfpack holding a 96-46 lead in the series, including a slight 31-28 edge at Clemson.
Clemson has won five of the last six games in the series, but NC State had won eight of the previous nine before that. Last season, Clemson won at NC State in early January, then the Pack downed the Tigers in the first round of the ACC Tournament.
Since the 2001-02 season, NC State posts a 4-3 record at Littlejohn Coliseum, but has lost the last two trips. NC State’s last win at Clemson came in double overtime in 2005-06.
Last Season Versus Clemson: The teams met twice last season, with Clemson claiming a road win in January, then the Pack pulling off the upset in the first round of the ACC Tournament in Greensboro.
Down by as many as 18 points in the second half, NC State cut the lead down to one point in the final minutes but could not over take the lead, as No. 24 Clemson held on to defeat the Pack 73-70 at the RBC Center on January 16. NC State was down 45-28 at the half, and fell behind 49-31 with 18:06 left. But the Pack battled back the rest of the half, and cut Clemson’s lead to 71-70 with 1:52 left. The Pack did not score the rest of the game, and missed a pair of three-pointers in the final 5.7 seconds that would of tied the game. Julius Mays came off the bench to lead the Pack with 17 points, while Richard Howell recorded his first career double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds.
NC State shot 61,9 percent (13-21) in the second half, and held off a late Clemson rally, as the No. 11 seed Pack advanced past sixth-seeded Clemson, 59-57, in first round action at the ACC Tournament on March 11. A three-pointer by Farnold Degand gave the Pack a 7-5 lead five minutes into the game, and NC State would hold the lead the rest of the game, not letting the Tigers get closer than three points. Tracy Smith led all scorers with 19 points, and also added eight rebounds. Richard Howell came off the bench for nine points and 11 rebounds in 21 minutes.
Last Time Out for NC State: NC State held off a late Miami comeback, denying the Hurricanes a shot on their final two possessions, to hold on to a 72-70 win at the RBC Center on Sunday. NC State started the game on a 12-2 run, and took a 37-30 lead into the half. The Pack extended its lead to 17 points with 12:32 left, but Miami came back and captured a 70-69 lead with 1:04 left. A Tracy Smith layup put the Pack up 71-70 with 42 seconds left, and C.J. Williams, who added a free throw for the final margin with 15 seconds left. The Pack came out with three new starters; Richard Howell, Ryan Harrow and C.J. Williams combined for 28 points and 11 assists, led by Howell’s 17 point, five rebound performance.
Howell Strong Against Clemson: Last season during his freshman season, Richard Howell had two of his best games of the season against Clemson. Coming off the bench in each game, Howell averaged 11.0 points and 11.5 rebounds in 23.5 minutes of action.
In the Pack’s home loss to the Tigers, Howell recorded his first career double-double when he finished with 13 points and 12 rebounds. In the Pack’s ACC Tournament win, Howell had nine points and 12 boards.
Changes in the Lineup: In the Pack’s win over Miami on Sunday, Sidney Lowe made three changes to a starting lineup that had basically stayed the same since Tracy Smith came back from injury in early January.
Freshman Ryan Harrow started at point guard, playing a season-high 34 minutes. Junior C.J. Williams made his second start of the season at shooting guard, replacing freshman Lorenzo Brown. Brown came off the bench to play 22 minutes, and finished with 10 points, six rebounds and four assists. He saw action at shooting guard, but and also at point guard. Sophomore Richard Howell also made his first start since early December and finished with a career-best 17 points while filling in for freshman C.J. Leslie was was sick and limited to just 14 minutes.
Those three combined for 28 points and 11 rebounds in the win over Miami.
Harrow Gets the Point: Over the two games, freshman Ryan Harrow has been the Pack’s primary point guard. Harrow played 34 minutes in each contest, playing all 20 minutes in the second half against Duke and earning the start against Miami.
Despite only getting the starting nod in two games this season, Harrow currently ranks second on the team in scoring with 11.1 points per game.
Harrow notched his first career start at Florida State. He finished the game with 17 points, including 8-of-8 from the free throw line, in 21 minutes of action. Although he did not start the game against No. 4 Duke, Harrow played the entire second half, scoring 13 of his 15 points after halftime. When inserted back into the starting lineup in the win over Miami, Harrow had five points, seven assists and three steals.
Since coming back from the holiday break, Harrow has averaged 12.1 points in the eight games, reaching double figures in six of those games.
Cashing in at the Line: A large part of freshman point guard Ryan Harrow’s game is getting into the lane, and he has taken advantage of getting fouled with his performance at the free throw line. Harrow currently leads the ACC in free throw percentage, as he has hit 93.7 percent (59-63) of his attempts this season. He has hit 35 of his last 36 free throw attempts.
Harrow is not the only Wolfpack player that is shooting over 90.0 percent from the line this season. Scott Wood has hit 91.3 percent (21-23) on the season, but does not have enough attempts to rank in the ACC statistics.
During ACC play, Harrow and Wood have combined to hit 95.8 percent (23-24).
