ACC Notebook
Jim Sumner, ACC Columnist
Sidney Lowe didn't leave Mark Gottfried an empty cupboard at North Carolina State. But he did leave a roster with as many debits as assets. Both were on display Saturday night, as the Wolfpack hosted top-ranked Syracuse.
The Wolfpack jumped on the Orangemen, leading 23-15 after eight minutes. They outscored Syracuse 21-7 in the first 6:33 of the second half. During those runs, State was burying 3-pointers, running the floor and pounding the glass.
That's the good news. The bad news is that Syracuse outscored State 66-28 over the other 25 minutes.
College basketball is a game of runs. But 66-28?
Syracuse kept State at 29 points for over six minutes in the first
half, while scoring 23 points themselves. Runs of 20-9 and
14-4 in the second half weren't quite as mind-boggling but they
firmly settled the issue, with Syracuse winning 88-72.
Gottfried was noticeably pleased with Lorenzo Brown's performance. Promising point guard Ryan Harrow transferred to Kentucky after Lowe was let go, leaving State absent anything resembling an ACC-caliber point guard. Brown, a 6-5 sophomore wing, was pressed into emergency service. It's been sink-or-swim for Brown and he's struggled to stay afloat at times, a one-point, three-turnover game against North Carolina Central serving as 'Exhibit A'.
But Brown was superb against Syracuse, consistently finding holes in their vaunted 2-3 zone. Brown's career-high 13 assists suggest that he's getting the hang of it. He even made both of his 3-pointers despite going into the game 9-30 from downtown.
Also coming in for praise from Gottfried was senior wing C.J. Williams, who led all scorers with 25 points. Previously regarded as a defensive specialist, Williams has blossomed under Gottfried's tutelage.
However, State's poor performance down the stretch of both halves against Syracuse demonstrated the shaky state of their bench, all four points and two rebounds worth. "We need more there," Gottfried conceded. "We need to get better there. We did a lot of really good things but sustaining it for longer periods of time needs to improve."
There's another concern. Talented sophomore forward C.J. Leslie missed much of the second half with severe leg cramps. It has happened earlier this season. Gottfried says State has brought in specialists but still hasn't gotten to the root of the problem. A healthy and productive Leslie is essential if State is to end its five-year NCAA drought.
Insiders agree that State is more disciplined and focused under Gottfried and the former Alabama head coach has ramped up State's recruiting. It might not happen this season but the trend lines are pointing up in Raleigh for the first time in years.
Required Reading
Howard and Len prepare to join Maryland.
Reggie Johnson makes season debut at Miami
ACC adds games for next season.
Will Leslie McDonald suit up this season for North Carolina?
What I knew
I knew Syracuse had a pretty good bench.
What I didn't know
That the future ACC team Syracuse doesn't come close to starting its five best players. Freshman power forward Rakeem Christmas played all of two minutes against NC State, while sixth man Dion Waiters scored 22 points in 32 minutes. Syracuse's bench scored 46 of their 88 points but they also played 94 minutes. Jim Boeheim said he's never done it this way before. But it sure seems to be working.
Stat of the week
18. Beginning in 2012-13, the ACC will play 18 conference games per season, regardless of the whether Syracuse and Pittsburgh join the league next season.
Odds n' Ends
There's nothing like a mid-season infusion of talent to give a struggling program signs of encouragement. Miami center Reggie Johnson returned Saturday after off-season knee surgery. Johnson played a surprising 36 minutes in his first game back. Miami had to go into two overtimes to defeat Florida Atlantic. They don't do that without Johnson's 15 points.
Wake Forest welcomed back under-achieving seven-footer Ty Walker, suspended for violations of team rules, while Virginia Tech got freshman point Marquis Rankin back from knee surgery. Walker got a career-high 12 points Sunday in a win over Gardner-Webb.
Any more help on the horizon?
A definite yes for the Maryland Terrapins. Sophomore point
guard Pe'Shon Howard is expected to return December 23, against
Radford. Howard is recovering from a broken foot.
Maryland is averaging less than 10 assists per game without him.
Ukrainian big man Alex Len was suspended for Maryland's first 10
games. The height-challenged Terps will welcome Len on
December 28, against Albany.
Clemson running back Andre Ellington should join Brad Brownell after the bowl season, adding some depth at point guard. More problematical is North Carolina wing, Leslie McDonald. He has been cleared to begin light workouts after a summer knee injury. But Roy Williams says he is nowhere near making a decision on McDonald.
Sumner's take
BCS versus NCAA Tournament? NC State is preparing to play Louisville in the Belk Bowl. A bowl official last week boasted that his organization had secured two of the best 7-5 teams in the country. Further comment would be superfluous.
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Internal NC State/Painter photo courtesy of Mark McIntyre; Maryland/Howard photo courtesy Greg Fiume/Maryland Athletics
