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State Line Hoops
Report©
— 01/28/02
THE TOP TEN
1.
Duke ... It was close for awhile as the Blue
Devils hosted Virginia on Sunday night. But, as has been their method
of operation in recent games, the Blue Devils had a second-half run
that proved decisive. From a tie at 42 at the half, the Blue Devils
pulled away to a 94-81 win as Jason Williams scored 27 points and
Carlos Boozer added 25. Boozer and Mike Dunleavy each had nine
rebounds. Chris Duhon had seven assists and Williams dished out six.
Foul trouble stifled the Cavaliers. The Blue Devils (18-1, 6-1 ACC)
visit rival North Carolina at 9 p.m. on Thursday night.
2. N.C. State
... The Wolfpack has won four straight to move into second in the
State Line Hoops Report. Senior Anthony Grundy has led State in
scoring in each game of its current streak and scored 20 points on
Saturday as the Pack dusted Temple 80-61 at the Entertainment and
Sports Arena. Freshman Julius Hodge contributed seven assists. NCSU is
16-4 overall and 5-2 in the ACC going into a 7:30 p.m. home game with
Wake Forest on Wednesday. Grundy is doing a little bit of everything.
He leads the team with a 16.0 scoring average. He’s tied for the team
lead in rebounding with sophomore Marcus Melvin at 5.4 per game
although Grundy is only 6-foot-3. Grundy also leads the Pack in
assists (3.7) and steals (2.5).
3. Wake Forest
... After getting battered in a gauntlet of Top 10 teams that included
Virginia, Duke and Maryland, the Deacons had an easier time in an
87-74 home win Saturday over Georgia Tech, which has yet to win an ACC
game this season. Josh Howard scored 20 points in the win and had
seven steals while Darius Songaila had 17 points and 10 rebounds.
Craig Dawson hit four of his six three-point attempts as he added 14
points. “We have to develop confidence and play to win,” said
first-year Wake coach Skip Prosser of his club’s mindset. Wake (14-6,
4-3 ACC) is No. 19 in this week’s USA Today/ESPN coaches poll.
4. Charlotte ... The 49ers looked like
Popeye after a can of spinach at the outset of the second half in an
87-52 win over visiting East Carolina on Saturday as sharp-shooting
Jobey Thomas led the way with 22 points. Charlotte improved to 12-6
overall and 6-1 in Conference USA with its fifth straight win since a
71-58 loss at Cincinnati on Jan. 8. Guard Demon Brown had eight
assists against the Pirates, who were swept away as the 49ers pushed a
29-25 lead at the half to 64-34 with 9:41 left. Charlotte is on the
road this week, visiting DePaul on Tuesday and Houston on Saturday.
5. South Carolina ... The Gamecocks
went from feast to famine in the span of four days, winning 94-60 at
Tennessee on Wednesday night as freshman Carlos Powell provided a
spark with 19 points. Powell managed just two points as USC was
thumped 71-53 at Ole Miss on Saturday as the Gamecocks were plagued by
19 turnovers and 35.1 percent field goal shooting. Aaron Bradley, who
is leading USC with a 14.2 scoring average and hitting 44.1 percent of
his threes, will try to step up as No. 17 Georgia comes to Columbia on
Wednesday night. Coach Dave Odom’s first-year club is 0-5 against
teams in the Top 25, 12-7 overall and 2-4 in the Southeastern
Conference. The Bulldogs are coming off an 86-84 upset loss at
Vanderbilt.
6. College of Charleston ... Just when
it appeared the Cougars might be taking control in the Southern
Conference’s South Division with a 77-65 win over The Citadel last
Monday (Jan. 21), Georgia Southern came in to the John Kresse Arena on
Saturday and dealt C of C a 60-57 loss. Kresse’s charges fell to 15-4
overall and into a three-way tie with The Citadel and Georgia Southern
for first in the South as each has a 5-3 division record. Charleston
missed its first 17 field goal attempts on Saturday and fell behind
18-2. Still, Jeff Bolton, who leads the Cougars with a 17.9 scoring
average, had a chance to tie with a three at the buzzer that missed.
Charleston visits UNC Greensboro tonight.
7. UNC Wilmington ... Virginia
Commonwealth stopped a three-game Colonial Athletic Association
winning streak for the Seahawks on Saturday despite a 20-point effort
by Craig Callahan as the Rams prevailed 74-68 in Richmond. Coach Jerry
Wainwright’s club dropped to 12-7 overall and 7-2 in the CAA but tries
to bounce back with a 7:30 p.m. league game at new league member
Towson tonight. UNCW led VCU 49-38. Junior guard Brett Blizzard
continues to top UNCW with an 18.3 scoring average although he was an
uncharacteristic 2 of 6 at the free throw line in a 16-point effort at
VCU.
8. Clemson
... Last season the Tigers sent North Carolina into a tailspin with a
75-65 defeat at Littlejohn Coliseum, ending an 18-game winning streak
for the Tar Heels and knocking UNC from its No. 1 ranking. UNC got
some payback on Sunday evening with an 87-69 win at Clemson. The
Tigers’ defense was riddled as the Heels hit 31 of 56 field goal
attempts for 55.4 percent. Jamar McKnight led the Tigers (11-10
overall, 2-6 ACC) with 21 points but no one else reached double digits
and Clemson couldn’t avoid its fifth straight loss. It doesn’t get any
easier for the Tigers, who host No. 1 Duke at 8 p.m. on Saturday.
Edward Scott of the Tigers is fourth in the nation in assists at 7.1
per game.
9. UNC Greensboro ... The Spartans
recovered from back-to-back losses to Western Carolina and Davidson to
prevail 81-76 at Wofford on Saturday as David Schuck scored 24 points
and claimed eight rebounds. Courtney Eldridge had eight assists. James
Maye leads UNC Greensboro (12-7, 5-3 Southern) with a 14.5 scoring
average. Luke Boythe of the Spartans is third nationally in field goal
shooting accuracy at 69.7 percent. The loss to Davidson dropped UNCG
out of first in the Southern Conference’s North Division.
10. Davidson ... The Wildcats followed
up on a 58-57 win at UNC Greensboro with a 70-67 overtime loss at home
to Western Carolina on Saturday. That stopped a six-game winning
streak for Davidson (13-6, 6-2), which hosts Wofford on Wednesday and
travels to Appalachian State on Saturday. The Wildcats had won 12
straight at home and their last eight overtime games. Catamounts coach
Steve Shurina, formerly an assistant to Davidson coach Bob McKillop
for seven years, had lost four straight to his former boss. Davidson
was outrebounded 45-30 and hoisted a school-record 33 three-pointers.
The Wildcats played without two seniors due to injuries, leading
scorer Emeka Erege, who averages 13.6 points, and 7-2 Martin Ides.
THE NOT-SO-SWEET 17
11. The Citadel
12. Gardner-Webb
13. North Carolina
14. Furman
15. Western Carolina
16. Wofford
17. East Carolina ...
The 87-77 win over Louisville on Jan. 16 hasn’t been a catalyst of
success for East Carolina. Since then the Pirates have lost 85-72 at
Saint Louis, 80-58 at home to DePaul and, thanks to a dismal 10
minutes at the outset of the second half on Saturday — 87-52 at
Charlotte. ECU looked to be in good shape as it headed to the locker
room on Saturday, down just 29-25 at the half. But the 49ers expanded
their lead to 64-34 in the first 10 minutes of the second half by
hitting 15 of 19 field goal attempts while committing just one
turnover. The Pirates went 2 of 13 in that span and had five
turnovers. The Pirates were flying from Charlotte to Cincinnati for a
game on Tuesday night against the Bearcats, No. 4 in the coaches poll
this week. Erroyl Bing is leading ECU in scoring (14.8) and rebounding
(8.7) while Gabriel Mikulas is averaging 13.5 points and 5.8 on the
boards. Kenyatta Brown is averaging 10.7 points. The increased travel
and tougher competition appear to be wearing the Pirates down in their
first year in C-USA. But there’s still a possibility that ECU (7-12,
1-6 C-USA) could make the league tournament. Berths go to the top 12
of the league’s 14 teams based on their league records. Most notably,
the Pirates need to improve on their 39.5 percent field goal shooting.
The Pirates are home to face Saint Louis on Saturday before hitting
the road again to face Marquette on Feb. 6 and DePaul on Feb. 9.
18. Winthrop
19. Appalachian State
20. South Carolina State
21. UNC Asheville
22. Elon
23. Campbell
24. Charleston Southern
25. High Point
26. Coastal Carolina
27. N.C. A&T |
