BY TONY HAYNES
Raleigh, N.C. – NC State has never played a men’s basketball game against East Carolina in Greenville. Neither, for that matter, have any of the three other teams from the traditional ‘Big Four.’ On Saturday night, however, that will change.
Seventeen times the Wolfpack and Pirates have faced off and all 17 times, the Pack has prevailed. But all 17 of those previous games were played in Raleigh, at either Reynolds Coliseum or the RBC Center.
In game number 18 of the series on Saturday night, ECU will have home court advantage for a change when it hosts the Wolfpack at Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum. Tip off is set for 7 p.m.
The enthusiasm for East Carolina basketball has never matched that which is seen during football season, when Pirates followers put their purple passion on throaty display for home games at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.
Of course, an historic visit by NC State will be more than enough to awaken ECU’s home arena and turn it into a real hornets nest.
“We’ve talked about it,” said Wolfpack coach Sidney Lowe. “It’s going to be loud and hostile. I hope it’s a nice experience for us. We have to go in and concentrate on our game and really try to take the fans out of it by controlling the tempo of the ballgame.”
This truly has been a unique week for East Carolina. Prior to Wednesday night’s game against Clemson, the Pirates hadn’t seen a visitor from the ACC in Greenville since former league member South Carolina traveled there back in 1969. The Tigers took care of business, jumping out to a big early lead on the way to an 82-67 victory.
Lowe and the Pack figure to get ECU’s best shot, just as George Mason did last Sunday. Posting one of their most impressive victories in recent years, the Pirates traveled up to Washington, D.C. and rallied to beat the Patriots, 68-65.
“This is a big game for them and a good game for them,” Lowe said. “It’s a big game for us. We expect that they’re going to be fired up and ready to go. Obviously, this is the first time we’re going down there to play them. They can certainly put a notch under their belts by playing an ACC team. They’ve got some very talented players, some experienced players. We’re looking forward to the challenge.”
Lowe isn’t sure how he earned the distinction of becoming the first NC State coach to take his team to Greenville, saying “the schedule was made before I got here.”
One thing Lowe can expect is a fresher, more rested NC State team than the one that got blasted at Michigan State in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge back on November 28. After playing three games in four days at the Old Spice Classic in Orlando, the Pack looked slow and sluggish throughout its 81-58 defeat in East Lansing.
Saturday’s contest will be NC State’s first outing since then.
“Coming off the three games in four days, then coming here to practice one day before going up there and playing, it was a tough time,” said Lowe. “I don’t think it was something where we weren’t competing; we had guys that were trying to compete. But if you don’t have your legs, there’s not much there.”
If Lowe could jot down an early Christmas wish list right now, he’d like to see the Wolfpack shoot the ball better from the perimeter and do a better job on the defensive boards. With teams playing packed in defenses to prevent NC State’s big men from dominating inside, open looks have been available from the perimeter. But thus far, the Pack is shooting 45.7 percent from the floor and just 31.3 percent from 3-point range.
NC State’s inability to control the defensive boards or to force a lot of turnovers on defense have made it difficult to get easy baskets in transition. Those two factors have also allowed the Wolfpack’s opponents to get a staggering number of extra shots at the basket. Through six games, the Pack has 111 fewer shot attempts (400 to 289) than its opponents.
“At times we haven’t shot as well as we would like,” Lowe said. “We’ve been hurt on the offensive boards, so we haven’t been able to get those rebounds and get out and run. I think that’s part of the problem there.”
Center J.J. Hickson certainly hasn’t been a problem. The freshman big man ranks fourth in the ACC in scoring (18.5 ppg.), seventh in rebounding (8.3), first in field goal percentage (.729) and third in blocked shots (15).
First-year point guard Farnold Degand has also been a pleasant surprise with a 2:1 assist-to-turnover ratio and an average of eight points per game.
Hickson and Degand have been good, but they’re also new to the program and their styles are different. Through the early stages of the season, the Wolfpack’s veteran players have continued to acclimate themselves to the new additions.
“I’m looking for progress,” Lowe said. “I said from the beginning that this is a new team. This is not the team that we had last year. You have different players that are being inserted into the line-up; you have different roles that are being played by guys this year that were different last year. I think we’re still learning each other. I know what we have; now it’s just a matter of getting it all together.
In East Carolina, NC State will be facing a smaller-quicker club, the type of team that has already given the Wolfpack match-up problems on the defensive end of the floor this season. The Pirates generally start three guards, a swingman and a 6-8 pivot man in Gabe Blair. Blair, a 6-8, 201 sophomore, averages 10.4 points and 8.3 rebounds to lead the Pirates in both categories. Guard Darrell Jenkins is Conference USA’s assist leader after dishing out 10 assists to go along with 11 points in last week’s upset of George Mason.
While the Pirates are in the midst of a six-game homestand, NC State will be playing its fifth consecutive game outside of Raleigh. The Wolfpack will finally return to the RBC Center when it hosts South Carolina State on Saturday, December 15.
“I think it’s good to play on the road,” Lowe said. “That Michigan State game, although it was a tough point in the schedule, I still thought it was good for us to get into that environment and play against a team like that. Hopefully, we’ve learned from that. I think it’s going to help us. In looking back at it, I think our guys are going to remember what it was like and how hard they played and East Carolina is going to do the same thing. We have to be ready to play and control the game.”
More Pack-Pirates: NC State’s average victory margin in 17 games against East Carolina is 22.2 points, although ECU certainly had the Wolfpack on the ropes last season in Raleigh. Trailing by as many as 15 points in the first half, the Pack didn’t lead until Brandon Costner drained a 3-pointer with 9:25 left. State went on to win, 64-57. Lowe says his team is relatively healthy other than a few “tweaks.” Everyone is expected to be available on Saturday.
Courtesy: Associated Press
