Game blog: N.C. State beats NC Central 87-59
North Carolina Central's Bryan Ayala drives by Trevor Ferguson of N.C. State in the first half on February 3, 2009.
Feb 3, 2009
8:50 p.m., Game over: It was ugly, it wasn't the ACC, State wins, I'm going to talk with some players and go home. I have 24 on tivo and I am a day behind. The following events took place between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. Events occured in real time. Yayyy! Kendall Smith scored two before this one ran out. Wolfpack win 87-59.
8:44 p.m., Big half for Costner: He has 18 of his 25 points after halfttime. He is doing it all down low as he should against a team as small as this one. The starting front line was 6-5 and 6-7 for N.C. Central. Some bench players are coming in now. Kendall Smith is in the game, a freshman from Winston-Salem. What ever happend to C.J. Williams this year? He was starting at a time this year, now he hasn't played a minute in the last few games. State leads 83-55 late in this one.
8:37 p.m., Race to the end: This is one to forget, the Pack didn't play great. Sidney just called a timeout after two straight turnovers. The crowd is not into this game, nor are they even here. N.C. State leads 76-53 with five minutes left to play. Courtney Fells has no points in the half after getting 15 in the first. Ben McCauley just looked so frustrated with Javi's entry pass in the paint that was thrown away. The look said it all.
8:31 p.m., Pack pulling away: They play a little bit better these last few minutes as Costner decides to just take over the paint on offense. He is getting to the line, putting in buckets. He has 22 points now to lead N.C. State. He is bigger than any one player for NC Central. But the Eagles are now just doing a terrible job of blocking out, when your are undersized, that's the least you can do. Wolfpack lead it 72-49 with under eight minutes to go.
8:22 p.m., Johnny Thomas show!: The Pack is still not playing well and Briscoe now has lit up for 24 points in the game but Thomas just got out in the open and rose a couple feet above the rim for a huge one-handed ram jam right on an Eagle player. Get this, that Eagles player's name is Norbert. Isn't that an Eddie Murphy movie or something? State leads 58-47 with under 12 minutes to play, still not good in my opinion.
8:12 p.m., Pack just not smooth: McCauley just got the ball in the post and instead of going up strong and using his size advantage he just shoulders into a guy and picks up an offensive foul. This guy was not using the Duke School of Flopping technique either. He got drilled with a shoulder. Briscoe has 18 points for Central, might want to get a hand up in his face. It's 50-41 with under 16 minutes to play.
8:07 p.m., Sluggish start: The Pack are not looking good out of the gates in the second half as Central's defense is giving Julius Mays some problems. Fells bellows out a "Come on, pick it up!!"
Brandon Costner just threw down a ram jam to give State a 50-38 lead with 16:49 left in the game.
8:00 p.m., Adam Harris' blog: Adam is out at UNC vs. Maryland tonight. Let's see if he reads this blog. Hey Adam? Can we get a dueling blog or something going here? Your's is right next to mine. How do you think this Central team would do against UNC? They are only down by ten here at half.
7:47 p.m., Ten point game: And of course it should be more than that! Sidney had to put Courtney Fells on Briscoe to put a lid on the kid's 15 first half points. State leads 46-36 at the break. Fells had 15 points in the half for State to lead the Wolfpack. The Pack was not very solid on defense though. I'm looking for some solid halftime entertainment here. Allright we have fans shooting baskets and stuff, that's a start for me. This poor kid missed a lay-up in this contest. Since he couldn't make an un-contested lay-up, he missed a free airfare to D.C. Your manhood just went out the door buddy.
7:41 p.m., Defensive break down: Four straight points for Central and Sidney calls a timeout as he doesn't like his teams defensive effort there. Pretty poor man defense there as they let small guys go right down low for lay-ins.
7:37 p.m., I like Johnny: You definitely see some athleticism in Thomas. It was a shame he missed the enitre 2007-08 year after blowing his knee out. When he caught that jam from Javi he was up very high. Fells comes back in the game as the rest of the starters continue to get rest. Fells has 13 and has made three three-pointers. Jamar Briscoe continues to pace the Eagles with 10 points. The Pack lead 43-29 with under three to play in the half. This game is lightning quick. Why didn't ESPN pick this game up?
7:27 p.m., Javi is in: I heard Sidney say on his coaches show that he has been the best point guard in practice this week. He hasn't played a minute since the Duke game on Jan. 20. Javi threw a pretty ram jam to Johnny Thomas and State leads 37-21.
7:24 p.m., Wolfpack wake up: They went on a 23-5 run to make it a 27-18 game now with 10:24 to go in the half. I don't think they will give up the lead al game. Ben McCauley and Brandon Costner had a couple of ram jams. Fells hit two straight threes. I just saw the movie "The Wrestler" so I will call every dunk a ram jam tonight. McCauley has 11 points.
7:13 p.m. Funniest on team: On the jumbo-tron Simon Harris says Courtney Fells and Brandon Costner are the funniest guys on the team. Do they think its funny being down 10-2 to NC Central? LoL!! Okay they have bit into the lead as the Eagles are up 10-6 with under 16 minutes to play. It's cool to see Central brought their dance team on the short trip with them to compete with State's girls. If they wouldn't blare music during the timeouts I would be able to hear Sidney Lowe in the huddle.
7:09 p.m., Come on Pack: This game would be perfect for heckling the players. I can already hear some State students annoyed at the Pack's play. It's like they are sitting next to me shouting in my ear I can hear them so clearly. "Come on Fells move your....oh my God!" one student yells. NC Central takes a 10-2 lead in the first 3:30 and Sidney Lowe takes a timeout. I knew this was going to happen to them tonight. Loyola took this team to the limit, they struggled with High Point, and Towson. I can see State winning this game by maybe 13 points or so. The Eagles are 2-22 mind you.
7:04 p.m., Ferguson is starting: They have Trevor back in there to start for Tracy Smith. Let's get through this game without tweaking Fells' ankle, can we?
6:57 p.m., Where the fans at?: Somehow there are less people here than at the North Carolina game. I would at least think the students would come over here and support the team. If you aren't in a night class right now, you should be at the men's basketball games. You go to an ACC school, half the fun of being in college is attending all the football and men's basketball games. They could fit everyone in here in the Holliday Gymnasium at Broughton.
6:43 p.m., Be very quiet: Shhhhhh, you don't want to disturb these basketball players from warming up. There maybe is two thousand fans in the RBC Center and we are 15 minutes away from tip-off. I am totally digging the NC Central warm-ups. They are rocking some Russell Athletic burgundy pants with a short-sleeved hooded shooting shirt. I love the hooded shirt.
The Eagles tonight will probably start a staggering front line of 6-5 and 6-7. Nick Chasten at 6-5 is a freshmen right out of Leesville Road H.S. here in Raleigh. Freshmen Jamar Briscoe out of Baltimore is their best player and he averages 16 points per game.
This team is in its second full season at the Division I level. Last season they traveled 22 thousand miles to 23 road games. This year they will play 21 road games. Life is tough when you are a new school at the level without a conference. Scheduling becomes very tough. Coach Henry Dickerson joined Mike Maniscalco today and he talked about what it's like to be at the mercy of everyone.
