BY TIM PEELER
RALEIGH – From the day he was hired, Sidney Lowe has preached that defense wins games – even if it is one he never had to use in the NBA.
So, even with his most experienced player and best perimeter defender on the bench with a pulled hamstring, Lowe pulled out a 2-3 zone defense that he had installed only a few days before, and stymied a heavily favored Michigan team Monday night in the eighth-annual ACC/Big Ten Challenge at the RBC Center.
The newly implemented defense was a key factor in the 74-67 victory for the Wolfpack (5-0). And its success was as surprising to State’s players as it was to the 13,135 spectators on hand for the fifth consecutive home contest.
“To tell you the truth, we just started using the zone this week,” said sophomore Ben McCauley. “It was kind of frustrating throughout the week because our practice squad was beating us throughout the week. We knew it would be key for this game, because we were shallow on the bench and they weren’t great shooters from outside.”
The Wolfpack got even shallower with 14:26 remaining in the first half when senior point guard Engin Atsur pulled up lame with a pulled hamstring. He did not return to the game, forcing junior Gavin Grant to assume point guard duties and former walk-on Bryan Nieman an increased number of minutes. Nieman, a senior who had played at two previous schools before walking on for the Wolfpack last season, saw 31 minutes of action, scoring eight points, grabbing six rebounds and blocking two shots.
Now, Lowe and his team begin preparations for the start of their ACC season, which kicks off Sunday in a 3:30 p.m. contest at Virginia.
Monday, the Wolfpack relied on the scoring of redshirt freshman Brandon Costner and McCauley to pull out the improbable victory. Costner recorded his second double-double of the season with 17 points and 10 rebounds, while McCauley had 18 points, as the Wolfapck out-hustled Michigan for loose balls and rebounds.
“I knew that we had to keep fighting after Engin went down,” Grant said. “I definitely think we out-worked them.”
Grant, the Pack’s most experienced player in the absence of Atsur, took over at the point to run the Wolfpack offense and, despite a handful of second-half turnovers, helped his team build a lead of as much as 21 points before fatigue and inexperience set in.
Michigan managed to cut that lead to only four points with less than a minute to play, but State’s free-throw shooting at the end prevented a Wolverine comeback.
Grant finished the contest with 13 points and seven assists.
Things looked dire when Atsur pulled up lame at mid-court, barely six minutes into the game. A minute later, Michigan hit an inside jumper to take a 16-4 lead, its biggest of the game.
To that point, the Wolfpack had struggled to find its offense, especially against Michigan’s shot-blocking interior players, Brent Petway and Ekpe Udoh. Meanwhile, Michigan was able to score at will inside.
But Lowe switched to a zone defense – which was banned in the NBA during his two stints as a head coach – forcing a Michigan team that entered the game shooting 28.8 percent from the 3-point range to shoot from the outside.
The Wolverines, which entered the game unbeaten with a 7-0 record, began to miss shots and the Wolfpack, to the delight of the partisan crowd, began an improbable comeback without its point guard.
From the time Michigan went up by 12, the Wolfpack outscored the Wolverines 31-12 to end the first half. Scoring came in spurts from McCauley, who scored on three straight possessions to cut the lead to six.
Freshman Dennis Horner added a couple of crowd-thrilling hustle plays, while Courtney Fells and Brandon Costner hit key 3-pointers and Nieman added much-needed rebounding and shooting during his career-high 31 minutes on the floor. The Wolfpack took its first lead of the game, 24-22, when Nieman grabbed an offensive rebound and found Costner open on the wing for a 3-pointer.
The defense continued to force Michigan into taking bad shots, and Grant began driving to the basket. McCauley fed Nieman on a no-look backdoor pass in the lane and Grant finished off the half with a drive to the basket that gave the Wolfpack a 35-28 lead at intermission.
After the game, the Wolfpack players, who have never bought into the prediction that they will be the ACC’s last-place team come March, were ecstatic about the nationally televised victory in a game that was billed as the biggest test of the early season.
“We are still a young team,” said Costner. “But we play hard. Don’t count us out of any game. We can play with anybody. It has just given us a lot of confidence for our next couple of games.”
Lowe, who has kept his team calm in the face of every adversity so far this season, was similarly pleased with the Wolfpack’s performance.
“This is a huge win, just for our confidence factor, especially playing without our point guard,” said Lowe, who tied the school record for the best start for an NC State first-year head coach, matching the marks of Harry Hartsell (1916-17) and Herb Sendek (1996-97). “It tells our guys if we play smart and hard and with that energy then we can be successful.”
The Wolfpack is now 5-3 in the eight years of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, including a 4-0 record at home.
You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
Courtesy: Peyton Williams/NC State
