Bombs Away!
January 02, 2005 06:20 PM | General
January 2, 2005
RALEIGH, N.C. – Mike Gansey’s 15-point, 10-rebound double-double helped West Virginia to an 82-69 victory at No. 17-ranked N.C. State Sunday afternoon at the RBC Center in Raleigh, N.C.
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| Mike Gansey scored 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead West Virginia to an 82-69 win at N.C. State Sunday.
AP photo |
The victory boosts West Virginia’s record to 10-0 for the first time since 1959-60 and gives the Mountaineers back-to-back victories against nationally ranked teams for the first time since beating Temple and Cincinnati in the 1998 NCAA tournament.
Last Wednesday the Mountaineers downed No. 20 George Washington 71-65 in Morgantown.
“I feel good right now that we were able to do some of the things that we were able to do in this game against a very good defensive team,” said WVU coach John Beilein.
Now West Virginia is on the brink of cracking the Top 25 for the first time in seven years behind a balanced lineup that featured six double-figure scorers against the Wolfpack.
Joe Herber matched Gansey’s 15 points, while Tyrone Sally and Patrick Beilein scored 11 and D’or Fischer and Kevin Pittsnogle contributed 10 each.
“That is absolutely incredible on the road in a hostile environment,” said Beilein of having six double-figurer scorers.
West Virginia lit the nets from three-point distance, making 10 of 18 for 55.6 percent and shooting 30 of 51 overall for 58.8 percent.
North Carolina State (10-3) was unable to match West Virginia’s hot shooting, making nine of 28 from three-point range for 32.1 percent and shooting 39.3 percent overall.
But State came out firing to start the game after its disappointing road loss at St. John’s and despite not having the services of its best player, 6-foot-7 senior forward Julius Hodge who watched the game on the bench in street clothes with a sprained ankle. Also, starting guard Tony Bethel was limited due to the flu.
“They’ve been out West and then played two games in the Garden, had a two-day prep for West Virginia and they’re missing their best player,” said Beilein. “But we’ll take this win for what it is: it’s on their home court and it wasn’t a one-point win.”
The Wolfpack jumped out to a 16-7 lead behind the play of freshman Andrew Brackman, who scored seven of N.C. State’s 16 points.
West Virginia was able to whittle away at N.C. State’s lead and eventually pulled ahead 26-25 on a Gansey layup off a steal by J.D. Collins. At that point West Virginia went on a 10-1 run to build its lead to 10, 36-26. Sally and Herber sandwiched threes between a Gansey layup, who tacked on another basket following a media timeout at 3:44.
West Virginia built its first-half lead to 11 on a nifty driving layup by Beilein before a pair of threes by Levin Watkins and Engin Astur right before the halftime buzzer cut the Mountaineers lead to seven, 43-36, at the break.
Five straight points by the Wolfpack to start the second half cut West Virginia’s lead to two, 43-41, before Sally answered with a basket off a State turnover to put the Mountaineers back up by four, 45-41.
A Fischer dunk and two free throws made it 49-43, and Darris Nichols had a nice sequence where he hit a driving layup and then penetrated and fed Beilein in the corner for a three that lifted West Virginia’s lead back to 11, 54-43.
“When they got it to four or five we made a run to get it back to seven or eight and I thought that was a key point in the second half,” said Beilein.
North Carolina State was able to cut West Virginia’s lead to seven on a three-point play by Jordan Collins, but Beilein answered with another three to put West Virginia back up by 10, 65-55.
D’or Fischer then denied Brackman three straight times in the paint, the third block leading to a J.D. Collins layup to give West Virginia a 12-point edge at 67-55.
A Sally jumper followed to give WVU a 14-point advantage before six straight Wolfpack points cut West Virginia’s lead to eight, 69-61. Herber answered the run with a tough jumper at the top of the key with nine seconds left on the shot clock to make the score 71-61.
Fischer was able to cash in on six straight free throws down the stretch to ice the game.
West Virginia’s victory was just the fifth by a non-conference opponent in the RBC Center in 53 games.
Brackman led North Carolina State with 19 points, while Ilian Evtimov scored 16 and Collins added 15.
West Virginia assisted on 18 of their 30 baskets and also made 11 steals.
“We want to have one of those years where you don’t remember the guys that average 16 points. You remember the guys that took you to the Promised Land in the NCAA tournament and we made another small step in that direction today,” Beilein said.
The Mountaineers open Big East play at 7-1 Villanova in Philadelphia, on Wednesday, Jan. 5. That contest will tip off at 7:30 and will be televised nationally by ESPN Classic. The network has brought long-time announcer Jim Simpson out of retirement to call the game along with former Villanova coach Rollie Massamino.
“How jacked up will they be in there?” asked Beilein. “An undefeated team coming in there and it’s another thing that we have to go through to continue to make the right steps.”
