Jan. 24, 2004
By JAY COHEN
Associated Press Writer
RALEIGH, N.C. – An emphasis on rebounding paid off in a big way for North Carolina State on Saturday.
Scooter Sherrill scored 18 points and Ilian Evtimov had 11 points and 14 rebounds to lead the Wolfpack to a 76-72 victory over No. 11 Georgia Tech.
N.C. State (11-4, 4-1) improved to 10-0 at home and grabbed sole possession of second place in the Atlantic Coast Conference behind top-ranked Duke. The Wolfpack did it on the glass, outrebounding the Yellow Jackets 40-38, including getting 21 on the offensive end.
“That’s just something throughout the season we’ve been emphasizing and tonight everybody was around the rim,” said Marcus Melvin, who finished with 18 points and 12 rebounds. “(There) was possessions where we got maybe three, four, five offensive rebounds.”
Will Bynum scored 17 points for Georgia Tech (15-3, 3-2), which lost its eighth straight game at N.C. State. The Yellow Jackets’ last victory in Raleigh was a 76-71 decision on Jan. 24, 1996, during Les Robinson’s last season coaching N.C. State.
“Coming into the game we were a pretty good rebounding team but they made quite a few hustle plays,” Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt said.
Those hustle plays were crucial in the second half when Georgia Tech battled back from a 16-point deficit to cut it to 54-52 with 9:59 remaining. Sherrill got loose for a layup and Levi Watkins made a 3-pointer to get the Wolfpack some room.
Watkins’ shot made it 61-54 and came after Evtimov hauled in a long offensive rebound and passed the ball back to him. Evtimov also made two free throws with 7.9 seconds remaining to provide the final margin.
“I thought our guys really competed on the backboard tonight,” Wolfpack coach Herb Sendek said. “Obviously that hasn’t been a strong suit of this team but they just played hard tonight with a lot of intensity.”
N.C. State used the rebounding edge and 15 Georgia Tech turnovers to get 11 more shot attempts than the Yellow Jackets. It needed the extra shots too, shooting 35 percent from the field, including 12-of-41 from 3-point range.
Jarrett Jack had 15 points and B.J. Elder added 14 for the Yellow Jackets, who had a three-game winning streak snapped.
“I think we did a good job of getting some steals and then penetrating to the basket, especially I think Will Bynum did a good job of getting the ball into the paint,” Hewitt said about his team’s second-half comeback. “It’s just frustrating but our guys played hard.”
N.C. State won despite another subpar effort from leading scorer Julius Hodge against Georgia Tech. Hodge, averaging 18.8 points per game before Saturday, scored just two points before fouling out with 1:54 left.
Hodge, a junior, is just 7-of-42 from the field and averages 6.8 points in six career games against Georgia Tech.
“It is uncharacteristic of him,” Sendek said. “But to his credit, despite being in foul trouble and not producing offensively, he was good with his teammates and stayed in the game. He cheered for his team and was just elated that we got the win.”
