NC State played their best half of basketball since the first half of last year’s ACC Tournament Semi-Final against the very same Maryland Terrapins. Luckily for this installment of Wolfpack Basketball, the second half of this game didn’t yield the same result as last year when the Terps entered the record books with the largest comeback victory in ACC Tournament history.
= > State’s offense has never been as efficient as it was in the first half on Sunday against Maryland. The Pack led at halftime 53-27 and extended the lead to 28 points in the second half.
= > The Pack scorched the nets in the first half, shooting 10-18 (56.7%) from the 3-point line and 18-33 overall.
= > The balanced attack saw Engin Atsur, Ilian Evtimov, and Julius Hodge all contribute double figure points in the first half. In the last ten minutes of the game, Hodge was able to hit key shots when points were needed to keep the Terps at arm’s length, but it was Engin Atsur and Ilian Evtimov’s shooting proficiency all day that made the biggest difference in State’s offensive effeciency today compared with other days of the year.
= > It was great to see Cedric Simmons in the first half…and great to see him play so well. I think he must have looked way too good in the first half since he didn’t get to smell the floor in the second half.
= > State played its best game of the year without the services of Cameron Bennermen and Tony Bethel, therefore throwing yet another wrench into the line of ‘reasoning’ that blames every poor performance on the absence of (insert player here). Either we miss these guys to the point that we cannot compete in the ACC or not. Which is it?
= > State won for the 2nd consecutive year at Maryland after not winning in College Park since 1989.
= > State improves to 2-3 in the ACC and 12-6 overall.
