Pack presents tall task
By
Al Myatt
©2013 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
RALEIGH — Jordan Vandenberg came out
for the second half at PNC Arena on Saturday and was getting loose
before play resumed. The 7-feet, 1-inch senior from Australia jumped
near the basket and was practically eye level with the rim.
His vertical presence was just one of
the matchup problems East Carolina faced in a 90-79 Wolfpack win.
"He's one of the most improved guys
that I've seen," said fourth-year ECU coach Jeff Lebo. "He's lost weight
and become a factor for them. When they threw it up there to him we
couldn't go where he went."
Vandenberg had five dunks in the
second half and finished with 18 points. He made nine of 10 field goal
attempts as State shot 58.2 percent for the game.
"I give State credit," Lebo said.
"They played awfully well offensively."
Pack small forward T.J. Warren
displayed as good a combination of skills to be found this side of the
NBA.
The 6-feet, 8-inch sophomore scored
in about every conceivable manner. He went from keeping the Pack in the
game as ECU (10-3) opened a pair of nine-point leads to sparking a 15-0
State run to close the half.
"You can't have a section of the game
where you have a 15-0 run and expect to win on the road," Lebo said.
Warren had 25 of his game-high 32
points in the first half.
"We had a hard time matching up with
him," Lebo said. "Most people do. ... He can drive it. He's excellent
without the ball. ... He has a unique ability to time his cuts.
Obviously, he can do a lot of different things, too. He can rebound. He
can score on the break. When he's making shots from the perimeter, he's
unguardable."
Anthony "Cat" Barber, well-nicknamed
in regard to his quickness, can drive and shoot, but his best quality
against the Pirates was distributing the ball to State's other weapons.
Barber had 16 points and eight
assists.
When State (9-2) needed some
long-range artillery, Ralston Turner was there to deliver daggers. He
was 3-for-4 from beyond the arc and had 11 points.
While the Pack can take any number of
approaches on offense, Lebo has figured out that his guys must either
spread the floor and drive or bomb away from the outside.
Most of ECU's anticipated low post
game has either departed campus or is on medical leave.
The exterior option was the most
effective as the Pirates were 10 for 27 on threes. Akeem Richmond
dropped five treys and had a team-high 23 points.
Dribble penetration did not go nearly
as well. The State skyline blocked nine shots.
BeeJay Anya, a 6-9, 325-pound
specimen, had five rejections and Vandenberg had three.
"We haven't seen size like that all
year," said sophomore Prince Williams, who played at nearby Broughton
High and had 12 points on 5-for-7 shooting. "We still wanted to keep
attacking."
The Wolfpack was called for just nine
fouls for the game.
That was a pretty big adjustment for
the Pirates, who were nine for nine from the line. ECU came into the
game ranking second nationally in made free throws.
The Pirates are averaging over 33
foul shots per game. Lebo has coached his guys to go hard to the basket
in light of new rules designed to stimulate offense.
"The first half we got eight blocked
and we can't simulate that without our bigs in practice," Lebo said.
"Anya was terrific in the first half with his shot blocks. He's so wide
that you underestimate his length.
"That size around the rim, the ACC
size, bothered us in getting the ball to the basket. ... When you drive
it in there, it's a different look against the size."
A dunk by Vandenberg gave State a
61-51 lead with 14:48 to go.
"Vandenberg is really the guy that
killed us in the second half," Richmond said. "It's no one's fault.
We're down a lot of big men."
ECU responded with a 9-0 run that
included a jumper by Antonio Robinson, a three by Richmond, a basket by
Caleb White and a hoop by Prince Williams.
"We battled hard and had a chance
there late," Lebo said.
The Pack answered with an 8-0 flurry
and the Pirates got no closer than four points the rest of the way.
ECU, which shot 35 of 44 at the line
Thursday night in
a 103-94 win over VMI, could not
muster a final run.
Seven players got all the minutes for
the Pirates. Richmond and Paris Roberts-Campbell were each logged in for
the entire game on the final stats.
White totaled 14 points and
Roberts-Campbell had 11. Antonio Robinson had nine points and six
rebounds.
"I thought we got a little fatigued
at times," Lebo said. "I thought we scored enough points to win but
we're trying to figure out a way to defend. They have like five guys out
there 6-8 or better. We have one."
That would be Mike Zangari, who had
six points in 21 minutes.
"We were trying to keep Vandenberg
from getting some easy shots," Zangari said. "He was getting some lobs
on some backside stuff that we needed to take away. I'm not used to 7-1
guys. We definitely struggled with it."
The Pirates have some time off before
hosting Georgia State on Sunday, Dec. 29, at 1 p.m.
The ECU players thought the
experience would be beneficial despite the outcome.
"We won't see anyone much better than
them," Zangari said.
ECU's last three trips to the
Triangle to play ACC teams
North Carolina,
Duke and
State have resulted in setbacks
by an average of fewer than nine points.
The Pirates aren't just looking to
play their established neighbors close, but that's what has happened.
"We wanted to come in here and show
them we were just as good as them," Richmond said.
That proved to be a tall order on
Saturday afternoon.
GAME SUMMARY |
--------------------- |
N.C. State 90, East Carolina 79 |
--------------------- |
Date: Saturday,
Dec. 21, 2013
Facility: PNC Arena
Attendance: 15,217
Records: ECU 10-3; NCSU 9-2
|
--------------------- |
SCORE BY PERIODS |
1 |
2 |
FINAL |
East Carolina |
38 |
41 |
79 |
N.C. State |
45 |
45 |
90 |
PAGE UPDATED
12/21/13 09:22 PM.
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