Wolfpack left longing in Heels' wake
Jan 31, 2009
The longing peeked through, mute yet unmistakable, during N.C. State’s fruitless pursuit of fifth-ranked North Carolina on Saturday afternoon. During a second-half TV timeout, spectators at the soldout RBC Center were invited to use their phones to vote for an “Ultimate Hoops Getaway.” Of three possibilities offered, “Watch two top ranked teams” won two-thirds of the vote.
Unfortunately, for almost 20 years this has been an infrequent option for fans at a Wolfpack game. Only once since 1989 has N.C. State finished in the top 20 in the final Associated Press poll, coming in at No. 15 in 2004. The Pack appeared in the polls in six of the last 19 seasons for a total of 47 weeks.
Even Clemson has been ranked more often, not to mention Georgia Tech, Maryland, Virginia and Wake Forest.
Then there are N.C. State’s Triangle neighbors, Duke and North Carolina, which make news when they are not ranked. One of those programs has finished atop the AP poll in nine of the past 17 years. Each has been top-ranked at some point this season. Since 1989 the Tar Heels and Blue Devils combined to finish 28 times in the top 10, compared to 10 such berths for the remainder of the ACC.
The local state of affairs would be enough to give anyone heartburn, let alone N.C. State faithful who recall fondly the NCAA championship seasons of 1974 and 1983, the legendary coaching of Everett Case, and the unmatched play of David Thompson.
This season’s visit by UNC – or, rather, UNC-Chapel Hill, as it said on parking passes – provided little solace for a program still looking to hit its stride in its third year under head coach Sidney Lowe. The Wolfpack played hard, played together, and largely played smart, yet was the pursuer for the last 35 minutes in a game won by North Carolina, 93-76. The Pack fell to 11-8, 2-5 in the ACC, and are already a longshot to reach the NCAAs.
The Heels made 56.5 percent of their shots against N.C. State, easily their best showing against a conference opponent this year. They controlled the boards in the second half and held a 46-16 scoring edge in the paint even though Lowe started three big men – Tracy Smith, Brandon Costner and Ben McCauley.
“It’s always important to us” to get the ball inside, said UNC head coach Roy Williams, “and we’ve gotten away from that a couple of times recently. We’ve got to get the basketball in there.”
The chief beneficiary of that focus was Tyler Hansbrough, who had 31 points on 13 of 17 shooting from the floor, 6 of 7 at the foul line, after scoring just eight in his previous outing at Florida State. “He was much more active today,” Williams said of the ACC’s leading scorer. “He was more into it. I figured he would be because he was disappointed in his play the other night.”
Hansbrough’s concentration did waver early in the game. He failed to box out, causing Williams to yank the All-American from the game and to administer a rare tongue-lashing. Williams could not remember a time he scolded Hansbrough in that manner. The senior had no problem recalling similar instances, and said he welcomed the refresher course in proper rebounding technique.
“I was happy,” Hansbrough said, sounding as if he meant it. “If I’m not playing well I want him to take me out and get on me like he does anybody else. That’s the type of relationship (we have). He understands that. He does that with everybody. Also, in high school I had a coach that used to chew me out all the time I wasn’t doing anything. I kind of feed off that sometimes.”
For its part, N.C. State tried to feed off its most recent game, an overtime victory over Miami, as well as the chance to defeat the hated Tar Heels, a feat the Pack last achieved in 2007. That was Lowe’s first game coaching his alma mater against UNC.
This time, however, the RBC Center rarely crackled with the electricity of a rivalry game. “Once we got up at halftime, and then we got up early in the second half, the fans kind of got out of it,” said UNC senior Bobby Frasor, whose defense earned him more minutes (24) than in any game this season. “I just think their tempo’s a little slowed down, so it’s hard for their crowd to really get into it that much.”
There were two big bursts of enthusiasm by the home crowd, one hopeful and one tinged by outrage.
The first came with 8:50 left in the game when a 3-pointer by senior Courtney Fells cut the Carolina margin to 69-60. Fells had a team-high 22 points, all but two in the second period. “I was wondering if Courtney was going to make every shot for them in the second half,” Williams said.
Lowe was pleased with Fells’ effort, but lamented the 26 threes attempted by his squad, 10 more than their season average. “That wasn’t my plan, to shoot that many threes,” Lowe said. “I never plan to shoot a lot of threes.” The Pack made 42.3 percent from long-range, but only 41.8 percent overall.
The Tar Heels responded to Fells’ basket by going on a 9-1 run that essentially secured their fifth win in seven ACC games. UNC built its lead to 17 with 1:08 to go, one point short of its largest advantage of the game. That caused Lowe, a constantly active presence on the sidelines, to quietly take a seat on his bench.
The game’s second emotional crescendo soon followed. Tar Heel subs were on the floor when McCauley, who had five points and five rebounds, fouled forward Mike Copeland, who initiated a wholly unnecessary drive to the basket with 1.9 left. Copeland took umbrage at the blow to his head and rushed McCauley. After officials restored calm, Williams banished Copeland to the locker room, to the delight of the buzzing crowd.
Williams apologized to McCauley and Lowe, then got to savor a special victory, his team’s 19th in 21 games this season. “He despises State,” Frasor said. “He’s got some family that went to State and high school friends that went to State that always talk trash, so he’s always had that (desire) to have bragging rights.”
For the most part, that remains a position contemporary N.C. State fans can only imagine.
