NC State 92
Wofford 88
Boxscore | N&O Recap | Season Beginning Entry
Quite a few things happened to night to further signal the transition from the Herb Sendek era to the Sidney Lowe era:
(1) State scored 92 points for the game and is averaging 86 points per game in our three outings thusfar this season (2 exhibition)
(2) State scored 52 points in the paint for the game! (Compare that to Arizona State’s 56 total points for an entire game in a 5 point win over University of Victoria the other other night)
(3) State shot less than 20 three pointers in a game.
(4) State is not a good defensive team.
(5) State had no offensive droughts where the Pack failed to score for a prolonged time period.
(6) State actually came from behind to win…
(7) …to win a close game!
Engin Atsur‘s go-ahead layup with 43.2 seconds remaining gave NC State the lead and his free throws with 2.9 seconds left sealed the victory as the Wolfpack made new coach Sidney Lowe’s debut a success in a 92-88 win over Wofford Friday night at the RBC Center.
* Engin Atsur scored 24 points and provided the Wolfpack its only source of scoring in the first few minutes of the game.
* Ben McCauley is becoming a beast. He scored 26 points, pulled in 5 rebounds and handed out 4 assists while shooting 10 of 13 from the floor.
* Bryan Nieman and Dennis Horner combined for the only 27 minutes of play provided by the bench as the starters carried the load. Of the starters, only Brandon Costner played less than 34 minutes (with 26 minutes).
* State shot 55% from the field for the game and held Wofford to 35% shooting in the second half after surrendering a blistering 65% in the first half to the visitors.
I thought that these comments were some of the best I have seen on the web:
We gave up 34 points in the second half . . . that isn’t exactly giving it away. 68 points a game from our oppenents is something I would welcome.
For a team that has no depth, a new coach, a new system, and a frontcourt that has basically no experience before this year, I’ll take it.
A game where they had to fight to come back, make some in-game adjustments, and learn to listen to and trust their new coach will ultimately be MUCH better for the team than a 30 point blowout.
Nice job hanging in there and getting Sidney his first win, guys. And for those people who are already posting “I can’t wait for Sidney to get his recruits in here”, consider supporting and enjoying the guys we have this year. Ben, Brandon, Courtney, Engin, Gavin, Dennis, and Trevor aren’t exactly scrubs.
By the way, we shot 62% from 2-point range and only took 18 3 pointers for the game. We scored consistently across the whole game and got to the foul line regularly. Nice.
Just win, baby
Additionally, the following comments were provided by some of our readers in a less relevant entry and we have moved them here:
1-0. Defense needs a lot of work. Great game by McCauley, but he can’t do that consistantly against the teams we have to play. Atsur had a great offensive game. We are going to need that every night
Looking for a bright spot, we won the second half 47-34. The theme for the year needs to be, “Any Win is a Good Win.�
For at least a week, Sid is the only undefeated N C State coach in recent history. Tracy Smith, Tracy Smith, Tracy Smith
We dodged a bullet. What a relief. We have a week to work on defense so we won’t get such a scare from Delaware State.
Our offense certainly did well. McCauley had a stud game. (Good thing we never got to see him play last year.) Atsur must be feeling okay, because he was awesome tonight. Everyone chipped in offensively. But we have A LOT of work to do to get to .500.
I think that you guys are missing the point about tonight. It has been a long time since a Wolfpack Squad has come from behind in that fashion.They did not quit.I am not crowning them, by any means, but I am viewing this as a positive attitude change..500 is reasonable I think, although it is still too early to tell what the competition will look like.
