Men's Basketball: WVU Travels to N.C. State
January 01, 2005 12:17 PM | General
January 1, 2005
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia, off to its best start since 1960, puts its unbeaten 9-0 record on the line at 10-2 North Carolina State Sunday afternoon.
The Mountaineers are coming off their strongest performance of the year defeating No. 20-rated George Washington, 71-65 in Morgantown Wednesday night.
Mike Gansey scored 19 points and pulled down seven rebounds and D’or Fischer contributed 15 points and was nine of 10 from the free throw line to give WVU its first win over a nationally ranked non-conference opponent at home since 1989.
Now, WVU goes on the road to face a No. 17-rated Wolfpack team coming off a disappointing loss at St. John’s Thursday night. State’s other defeat came at Washington on Dec. 19. West Virginia’s back-to-back games against nationally ranked non-league foes are a first since the 1970 season when the Mountaineers played Kentucky and Army in consecutive games.
Six-seven, 205-pound senior forward Julius Hodge is one of the country’s best, averaging 19.2 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. Hodge is the only N.C. State starter averaging double figures. He is expected to be joined up front in the starting lineup by 6-foot-8 senior forward Levi Watkins and 6-foot-10 senior center Jordan Collins.
N.C. State coach Herb Sendek is expected to start 6-foot-3 sophomore Engin Astur and 6-foot-2 junior Tony Bethel, a Georgetown transfer, in the backcourt.
Sendek is in his ninth season at North Carolina State where he holds a 158-110 record.
West Virginia, meanwhile, will probably counter with a starting lineup consisting of 6-foot-11 Fischer at center and 6-foot-4 Gansey at forward, with 6-foot-7 senior Tyrone Sally at the other forward.
Expected to start in West Virginia’s backcourt are 5-foot-10 junior J.D. Collins and 6-foot-6 junior Joe Herber.
West Virginia is playing North Carolina State for the 14th time since 1947. State leads the series by a 7-6 count and it will be WVU’s first appearance in Raleigh since 1997 when the Mountaineers defeated N.C. State, 76-73 in an NIT second-round game. West Virginia is 1-4 against the Wolfpack in Raleigh. This will be the fourth time WVU has met a ranked N.C. State team on the hardwood.
The game will be televised by Fox Sports (Mike Hogewood and Cliff Ellis) and will be carried locally on Fox Sports Pittsburgh.
