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WASHINGTON— N.C. State ignored Michigan State’s size advantage Friday afternoon.
Time and again, the Wolfpack looked at the giants in front of them and raced by to the basket.
The few times N.C.State ran its set offense, the Pack eluded the Spartans for easy layups down low.
And yes, the Pack did get outrebounded by one of the country’s top teams on the glass —but only by five. Michigan State’s season average was a plus-8.
“We really beat each other up in practice,”said senior guard Anthony Grundy, who skied for six rebounds. “We’re not as big and physical as some other teams, but we’ll fight. A lot of people really haven’t seen that we can play like this in the half-court game.”
N.C. State’s patented offense generally revolves around the backdoor cuts and 3-point shooting. The Wolfpack did manage a few early layups against the Spartans, but as for the long-range shooting, it just wasn’t there.
The Wolfpack went 0-for-6 in the first half and finished 2-for-9, not even trying for the long bomb in a season-low number of attempts.
“As much as we’re 3-point shooters, I think we have guys who can go off the dribble,”Grundy said. “It’s due to the way we play.We open the floor up, there’s opportunities to drive.”
N.C. State seized those moments, racing by lumbering Spartans Adam Ballinger and Aloysius Anagonye.
“North Carolina State deserves a lot of credit,”Spartans head coach Tom Izzo said. “They just kind of went at you and I have a lot of appreciation for that.”
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wow! In the “Who woulda thunk it?” department, N.C. State used all those drives to the hoop — and its strong defense — to outscore the Spartans 32-10 in the paint.
“We get points in the paint in different ways, sometimes unconventional ways,”Wolfpack head coach HerbSendek said. “We don’t get a lot of postups and back-to-the-basket type of points, but we’re still able to do it.”
Michigan State’s inside game disintegrated. Ballinger, who averages 11.4 points per game, had six against the Wolfpack. Anagonye tallied just two points.
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scooter’s streak: When Grundy took an elbow to the face late in Friday’s game and couldn’t shoot his free throws, Sendek immediately looked to Scooter Sherrill.
“Coach asked me if I could make them and I said I could,”Sherrill said of his final two makes that provided the final 69-58 margin.
Sherrill’s first two free throws came with 13:48 to play in the game. The two shots gave N.C. State a 39-37 lead — it’s first since 6-5 and one the Pack would never relinquish.
The 4-for-4 performance stretched Sherrill’s streak to 27 consecutive free throws made.
“I don’t really feel like I’m going to miss,” said Sherrill, who’s hitting 83.6 percent for the season. “When it’s my time to knock them down, I concentrate real hard and try to knock ’em down.”
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first half to forget: Very little went right for N.C. State in the first half Friday. The Wolfpack scored just eight points through the first 12 minutes and ended with a season-low 18 at the break.
Archie Miller was missing wide-open 3s, Grundy couldn’t hit any of his crazy drives, Hodge was missing layups.
The only good thing about the first half was that the Pack recovered from it thanks to Michigan State’s woeful shooting as well.
As for explanations to the slow start, the Pack was asked about nerves.
“It probably could’ve been.I don’t know,”Melvin said. “This was my first time being here.”
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Contact Steve Hanf at 704-797-4256 or shanf@salisburypost.com
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