WASHINGTON — N.C.State and Michigan State find themselves in unusual positions this March.
When the Wolfpack and Spartans tip off today at the MCI Center at 12:15 p.m, it will mark the first time in 11 years N.C. State made the NCAA Tournament field.
Michigan State takes the floor as an underdog for the first time in recent memory —the past three years, the Spartans owned a No. 1 seed and advanced to the Final Four.
“When you’re a 1 seed, history says you have a great chance to get out of the first game. Not so when you’re a 10 seed,”Spartans head coach Tom Izzo said. “So, I think we approach the game with a little more intensity in one way, but also a little more apprehension.”
The fear factor is mutual. Seventh-seed N.C. State (22-10) must deal with a tourney-seasoned team, not to mention a physical squad that manhandled every Big Ten opponent on the glass.
The Spartans (19-11) averaged a league best 37.8 rebounds per game and owned a plus-8 edge in rebounding margin. N.C.State was dead-even with Atlantic Coast Conference foes at 33.2 boards per game and ranked last in the league in offensive rebounding.
“We have to be physically ready,”Wolfpack sophomore Scooter Sherrill said. “We haven’t seen a team like Michigan State, a big physical team.”
Oddly enough, the biggest size difference today comes outside, not in the post. Spartan sophomore point guard Marcus Taylor, the Big Ten’s leading scorer and assist man this season, takes his 6-foot-3, 195-pound frame against 5-10, 160-pound Archie Miller.
At the other guard position, Anthony Grundy, the Wolfpack’s leader in points, rebounds, assists and steals, gives up one inch and 45 pounds to Michigan State’s Kelvin Torbert.
In the frontcourt, all three of Michigan State’s big men hold height and weight advantages over the Wolfpack.
“It is an advantage that we out-size them a little bit, but their style of game kind of negates that,”said Adam Ballinger, MSU’s 6-9, 250-pound center. “They put five guys out on the perimeter, running screens, backdoors and shooting the 3. Offensively they take us out of where we want to be. When we’re on offense we need to go inside and play to our strengths.”
N.C. State center Marcus Melvin shot down Maryland at last week’s ACC Tournament by hitting four 3-pointers. Freshman forward Ilian Evtimov drained four treys a day earlier against Virginia.
“With our offense and the way we’ve been making shots lately, if we rebound and defend as hard as we know we can, we should be all right,”Pack freshman Julius Hodge said. “We’re going to show that we’re tough as nails and do whatever it takes to win.”
N.C.State’s players and coaches are planning on iron stomachs today, as well. During Thursday’s practice and media session, any talk of butterflies was quickly quelled.
“From the players’ aspect, I don’t think it’s very much different from the ACC Tournament,”Miller said. “The ACC Tournament is a big-time environment with a lot of media. There are lots of demands on the players at shoot-arounds and things like that.”
Playing teams like Duke and Maryland six times in one season doesn’t hurt, either, with each contest having the high intensity level of an NCAA contest. Of course, the Wolfpack only went 1-8 this season against teams in the NCAA field, while Michigan State was 6-6.
The Spartans still consider themselves wide-eyed underdogs, though:Michigan State starts a pair of freshmen and a couple of role players from its successful squads of the past.
“The first year we went to the Final Four it was just overwhelming and I’m sure I didn’t coach my team on how to handle it,”Izzo said. “Now I really have to coach them again.
“I’ll never forget when we went to Greensboro, N.C., to play North Carolina (in 1998’s regional semifinal) and we’re driving up to the arena and all the TV trucks and satellite dishes were there and I could hear my players buzzing in the background,”Izzo recalled of that defeat. “I knew we were in trouble right there. Hopefully I’ve convinced them not to look at those things.”
n
NOTES: N.C. State leads the all-time series 4-1. The last meeting came in 1982, a 45-41 Wolfpack win. The teams met in Hawaii at the Rainbow Classic the previous year. … The winner of today’s opener will face the UConn-Hampton winner in Sunday’s second-round game at 2:30 p.m.
n
Contact Steve Hanf at 704-797-4256 or shanf@salisburypost.com
.
Today's News
