NC State Downs Seton Hall, 79-73

Gavin Grant was clutch again, J.J. Hickson came alive in the second half and Courtney Fells exploded in the first half. But the unsung hero of NC State’s satisfying 79-73 road win at Seton Hall on Thursday night may have been a new addition to the Wolfpack rotation.

Getting the call to see his first action just four days after starting point guard Farnold Degan was declared out for the season, Marques Johnson offered a steady hand against the Hall’s relentless pressure.

Playing behind starter Javier Gonzalez, Johnson, seeing his first college action since his transfer from Tennessee last fall, gave the Pack 23 solid minutes, even hitting a few key free throws down the stretch.

It all added up to a happy locker room following NC State’s (8-3) fourth consecutive victory.

Johnson, a sophomore didn’t start, but was in there for the last several minutes in a tense, physical game that saw the lead change hands a total of 12 times with four ties.

“This feels good,” said Johnson, who was forced to sit out a year following his transfer. “I’ve been waiting about a year now and I’ve been hanging around, getting to know these guys. It definitely feels good to get out on the court and help them.”

The Pirates (8-3), as expected, pressed for the entire 40 minutes, but of NC State’s 18 turnovers, Johnson had only two.

“I really didn’t know what to expect,” said winning coach Sidney Lowe. “It’s his first game and we just talked about being solid. He did a great job. He did so well that I left him in there and let him finish the ballgame for us.”

As has been the case lately, Grant played his best when the Wolfpack needed him most. Seventeen of the senior’s game-high 23 points came in the second half, including a couple of decisive breakaway buckets in the final minute that sealed it when the Pack threw over the Seton Hall press.

Strong inside, Hickson finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds for his third double-double of the year. In helping the Pack grab a 35-32 lead at the break, Fells scored all 17 of his points in the opening half, including a highlight dunk that finished a beautiful two-on-one break.

Trailing by as many as six points in the second half, NC State never folded nor wilted in the face of a steady diet of zone presses. Seton Hall, which came in averaging 86 points, was slowed to a pace with which Lowe and NC State were more comfortable. The Wolfpack also kept the Pirates off-balance with some changing defenses that often had Seton Hall looking confused and befuddled.

“We didn’t want to get into a running game,” Lowe said. “If we got it over the top, we certainly wanted to attack. Late in the ballgame they really got aggressive and it allowed us to throw over the top for a couple of dunks.”

Hickson scored six straight points in a flurry that gave NC State a 61-58 lead with less than five minutes left. Grant then went to work, knocking down three of four free throws and the two easy buckets against the press. On a night when the Pack made only 2-of-11 from 3-point range, Grant also buried a big 3 and a foul after NC State had been down 52-46 at the 9:49 mark. Although his free throw to complete a four-point play missed, Ben McCauley was there for the put back for a five-point possession that cut the deficit down to just one.

Between them, McCauley (10 points) and Hickson (5-5) combined for 23 points and 9-of-12 shooting from the post spot. As a team, NC State shot 55.6 percent (30-of-54) and outrebounded the Pirates 41-31.

Seton Hall placed four players in double figures, led by Eugene Harvey’s 20 points. Brian Laing added 17, center John Garcia 16 and Paul Gause 11.

Following a sluggish and often frustrating start to its season, NC State seems to be coming together as a basketball team, even in the aftermath of the knee injury that knocked Degand out for the year.

On Thursday, the Pack certainly picked up its most satisfying win to date.

“It’s very satisfying,” Lowe said. “We had guys step up in a tough situation. For Javier and Marques to come in and on the road to do well, is really satisfying.”

This is what Grinds My Gears 12/17/07!

Ok, to all of you true Wolfpack fans, I am sure that you all are asking yourselves..."How in the HELL did we lose to East Carolina in Basketball?!?!?!?!?"
Are we too big of a team. ie: are we trying to play J.J. Hickson too much in the starting line up or do we have to many good players fighting for the same position on the team?
It isn't a mystery that Sidney Lowe loves the fact that we have J.J. Hickson on our team, but is this making our other players especially Ben McCauley and Brandon Costner not play their best basketball. These two players alone put us in the ACC Tournament Championship game last year and now we cant even beat a cellar dweller of Conference USA...Lets not soon forget about our loss to New Orleans in the RBC CENTER!!!
Sidney Lowe let all of NC State fans know that he did not schedule the ECU game that it was already scheduled before he became the head coach here at NC State. I really like Sidney Lowe, but come on now...we MUST beat ECU & New Orleans...PERIOD!
I think it may be time for Sidney Lowe to approach his team differently so we can put our season back on track & show all the fans that we actually are the third best team in the ACC!
And, that is what grinds my gears! :)
GO PACK!!!

Degand Out For Season

NC State head men's basketball coach Sidney Lowe has announced that sophomore point guard Farnold Degand will miss the remainder of the 2007-08 season after tearing his ACL Sunday night in the win over
Cincinnati. Degand will undergo surgery at a later date.

The 6-4, 178 native of Boston has started all 10 games for the Wolfpack
at the point this season, averaging 6.9 points, 3.2 rebounds and 28.6
minutes per game. He also led the team in assists (2.9 per game) and
three-point shooting (.500, 8-16). Degand sat out last season after
transferring from Iowa State, where he redshirted the 2005-06 campaign.

"This is a really tough break for Farnold individually and for our team
collectively," Lowe said Monday morning. "After not being able to play
for two years, he was really enjoying being back on the court. He will
definitely have the support of his teammates and the coaching staff
throughout the rehabilitation process."

Pack Ends 2-Game Skid With 74-49 Win Over S.C. State

RALEIGH, N.C. – Freshman J.J. Hickson and senior Gavin Grant took turns carrying the scoring load as NC State ended its two-game road losing streak with a resounding 74-49 victory over South Carolina State Saturday afternoon at the RBC Center.

Playing at home for the first time since Nov. 18, the re-energized Wolfpack (5-3) used more players and had more fire than in previous outings.

“It was good to be back here,” said junior Ben McCauley, who had seven points and eight rebounds off the bench. “I knew once we got in front of our fans and got home, we were going to be OK. We have had a rough stretch, obviously. But to get back home and get back after it and play NC State basketball the way we know how to play, I think we did really well.”

Hickson, the 6-9 freshman from Marietta, Ga., did most of his damage in the first half, scoring 16 points, thanks primarily to an 8-for-11 shooting performance from the free-throw line. He scored only two points in the second half.

Grant, who finished with a game-high 23 points, took over the main scoring burden in the second half, as second-year head coach Sidney Lowe continued to tinker with his lineup throughout the contest.

The Wolfpack trailed only once in the game, at 4-2 just 90 seconds after the tip-off, and led by as many as 29 points in the second half. Second-year head coach Sidney Lowe was disappointed that his team seemed to relax with about nine minutes to play, allowing S.C. State to outscore the Wolfpack 14-3 during one stretch.

“We played pretty well, even though we had a letdown there with about eight minutes to play in the game,” said Grant. “We were up 29 and then it was 17. Coach said in the lockerroom that a couple of guys were smiling on the court. It was probably me, because I am always smiling.

“He said we can’t have that because against a better team, things can get away from us.”

But that was one of the few downsides in a game in which Lowe went deeper onto his bench from the outset, even though sophomore guard Trevor Ferguson was not in uniform for the game because of an illness. The Wolfpack used 10 players before halftime, including the first significant minutes of the season by junior Simon Harris.

Harris, the son of NC State assistant Larry Harris, had played only three minutes in the team’s first seven games. He played five in the first half Saturday and finished with 11 in the game.

Lowe went to the bench early, sending in McCauley and sophomore Dennis Horner for starters Hickson and Courtney Fells less than two minutes into the contest. His frequent substitutions seemed to energize the team.

“The guys who came in off the bench gave us a big lift,” Lowe said. “They came in and picked it up for us.”

Overall, Lowe was pleased with his team’s effort on defense and on the boards, out-rebounding S.C. State 46-35. It was just the kind of game his team needed after losing back-to-back games against Michigan State and East Carolina.

“It was important for us to come in here today and not just win, but to play the way we wanted to play, dive for loose balls, those kinds of things,” Lowe said. “It was not just the win itself, but we won doing the things we needed to do.

The Wolfpack has another six-day break to finish first-semester exams, before hosting in-state rival Davidson next Friday at 7 p.m. at the RBC Center. State plays again two days later against Cincinnati at 7:30 p.m.

Lowe will have one more player to use off the bench the rest of the season, as Tennessee-transfer Marques Johnson becomes eligible to compete after sitting out under NCAA transfer rules.

Wolfpack Upset By Pirates, 75-69

GREENVILLE, N.C. (AP) - Sam Hinnant scored a career-high 30 points and hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 2:09 left to help East Carolina stun North Carolina State 75-69 on Saturday night, giving the Pirates their first win against an Atlantic Coast Conference opponent.

Cory Farmer added a key layup and two free throws late for the Pirates (4-5), who had lost all 57 games against ACC teams coming in.

Hinnant finished 10-for-13 from the field and went 6-for-8 from 3-point range, while Darrell Jenkins scored 11 points and went 4-for-4 from the line in the final seconds to seal it for East Carolina.

When Gavin Grant's final 3-pointer missed at the horn, the rowdy East Carolina fans - who grew steadily louder as the game wore on - stormed the court.

Grant scored 25 points to lead N.C. State (4-3), which shot just 42 percent and was outrebounded 34-33 by the undersized but scrappy Pirates.

It was hard to imagine that the Pirates could pull of this kind of win against a team picked to finish third in the ACC, particularly after a one-sided home loss to No. 18 Clemson here Wednesday night. But the Pirates got hot from behind the arc, knocking down 10 of 18 3-pointers, and got some key plays late to make this game look completely different.

They fought the Wolfpack evenly throughout the second half and were tied in the final 2 1/2 minutes until Hinnant - who was unstoppable all night - made the game's biggest shot by draining a 3 from in front of East Carolina's bench for a 67-64 lead with 2:09 left.

Farmer immediately followed with a layup off a stolen inbound pass, pushing the margin to 69-64 and sending the rowdy Pirates fans into ear-ringing celebration.

N.C. State twice closed to within three, the last coming on Grant's drive that made it 71-68 with 29.3 seconds left. But Jenkins knocked down a pair of free throws to push the margin to five and, after a free throw from Grant, hit two more with 8.1 seconds left to make it 75-69.

N.C. State hadn't played since an 81-58 loss at Michigan State on Nov. 28, a lethargic performance that coach Sidney Lowe partly attributed to fatigue following a Thanksgiving trip to Orlando, Fla., for the Old Spice Classic. But the Wolfpack's performance against the Pirates did little to back that claim, with East Carolina repeatedly outhustling the Wolfpack the longer the game went on and it became apparent that the Pirates weren't going away.

Most of the headlines in this intense instate rivalry had come in football, most notably a postgame brawl between fans in 1987 that temporarily suspended the series. N.C. State had won all 17 meetings on the hardwood before Saturday, including last year's game in which N.C. State rallied from 15 down in the first half for a 64-57 home win.

This week's homestand against Clemson and N.C. State marked the first time an ACC school had visited Minges Coliseum in almost four decades.