Revenge was a bitter pill for the Wolfpack to swallow Saturday. After losing to N.C. State Jan. 26 at PNC Arena, North Carolina made a change in its starting lineup from its previous matchup with the Pack.
The switch paid off. UNC guard P.J. Hairston, who came off the bench in the previous game of the rivalry series, started the game and scored 12 points, helping the Heels fight off the Wolfpack, 76-62, in Chapel Hill.
“I thought it was a heck of a college basketball game,” head coach Mark Gottfried said. “I thought my team competed really hard, and I thought theirs did too … I thought they all just competed unbelievably hard.”
Senior forward Scott Wood led the Wolfpack (19-8, 8-6 ACC) with 19 points, 15 of which came on three-pointers. Wood was one of three State players to play more than 38 minutes in the game.
The other two were senior forward Richard Howell and junior guard Lorenzo Brown, both of whom posted double-doubles. Howell grabbed 17 rebounds, 13 of which came in the first half. Howell now has 16 double-doubles in the season, the most in a season since Kenny Carr had 15 in the 1976-77 season.
Brown scored 12 points and added 12 assists and five boards. However, four of Brown’s points came in the last minute of the game, when UNC coach Roy Williams had taken out his starters to give his walk-ons a chance to play. Brown was also uncharacteristically loose with the basketball, ending the game with four turnovers.
According to Gottfried, Brown still isn’t fully healthy from the ankle injury he incurred at Virginia Jan. 29.
“I don’t think he’s 100 percent,” Gottfried said. “At this point in the year, there’s a lot of guys around the country that are banged up a little bit … We’ve tried to rest him in practice. We’ll continue to do that some and pick our spots there, but he’ll get healthy. He’ll get to be 100 percent here pretty soon.”
Carolina (19-8, 9-5 ACC) started four guards to surround sophomore forward James McAdoo. With State starting three forwards in Warren, Howell and Leslie, the Wolfpack had a height advantage against the Tar Heels.
The first half saw the Pack exploit this height advantage by outrebounding the Heels, 26-14. But 12 first half turnovers meant the Pack couldn’t translate its rebounding advantage into points on the offensive end.
Turnovers and free throw efficiency were major pitfalls for the Wolfpack throughout the day. State finished the day with 16 turnovers, six of them coming from junior forward C.J. Leslie and four each from Brown and Warren. Carolina finished the game with nine turnovers, five of which came in the second half.
Leslie’s six turnovers were part of his miserable day against Carolina. He finished the game with six points and four rebounds, both of which were under his season averages of 15.4 points and 7.4 boards. The Holly Springs native also missed all four of his free throw attempts.
“[Leslie’s] a great player and great players have got to step up and play, period,” Gottfried said. “I love him as much as anybody, but when you’re a good player then you’ve got to play better.”
Gottfried was also disappointed with Leslie’s rebounding effort.
“Richard [Howell] gets 17 rebounds today,” Gottfried said. “Are we expecting Richard to get 30 rebounds? Holy mackerel, somebody else has got to rebound the ball. Calvin has to step up, period.”
The Wolfpack shot a horrid 46.2 percent from the free throw line, making only six of 13 attempts.
Despite its free throw troubles and propensity for turnovers, the Wolfpack led the Heels with eight minutes left in the game. Howell’s tough rebounding and Wood’s sharpshooting kept the Wolfpack alive at times when nothing else was going right for State.
The Wolfpack may have had a bad day against the Heels, but the effort level throughout the contest was what pleased Gottfried the most.
“We’ve just got to keep working and playing hard,” Gottfried said. “I like how our team is playing. I like the fact that we’re competing. We’re playing better.”
