NC State uses strong second half to survive scare from East Carolina, 64-57

The Wolfpack outscored the Pirates 35-21 after intermission

CUSA-fans.com has a new staff of team correspondents this year to help bring you, the fan, more detailed Conference USA sports coverage. Today, our ECU Correspondent Thomas "Bubba" Rosenbaum brings you a recap of the basketball game between East Carolina and NC State.

East Carolina went into the RBC Center on Thursday night and nearly pulled a surprising upset over Atlantic Coast Conference foe and in-state rival NC State. The Pirates (4-7) had lost five straight games coming in, but led by as many as 15 before dropping a 64-57 decision to the Wolfpack. With the win, NC State broke a two-game losing streak and improved to 8-4.

Although NC State had lost two in a row, ECU was struggling even more and very few people expected this to be a competitive game. If the Pirates were going to have any chance, they must play one of their best, if not their best game to date.

Offensively, they must negate the size differential by knocking down their outside shots and using their quickness to penetrate against the bigger Wolfpack. In the first half, they were able to accomplish just that.

Defensively, Stokes and staff made the only logical choice and utilized a zone defense. They really had no other choice given the Pirates’ lack of size and NC State being without their best three-point shooter in Engin Atsur.

The Pirates led for most of the first half and they took their largest lead of the game at 15 (34-19) when Jeremy Ingram hit a shot in the lane with just over three minutes to play before the break.

Junior Jeremy Ingram torched the Wolfpack for 18 first-half points and finished the game with 24. He connected on six of his 11 attempts from long range.

The only other East Carolina player to score in double-figures was freshman James Dillard, who tallied 10 points. The former ECU track athlete made all five of his shot attempts and also pulled down four rebounds.

NC State closed the half on a 10-2 run, which resulted in them cutting the gap to seven, 36-29, at intermission.

The Wolfpack were able to carry this momentum into the second half. NCSU, which struggled against the Pirates’ zone before halftime, focused its efforts on getting the ball inside against the smaller ECU lineup and it was able to do so. Ben McCauley scored eight of his team’s first 14 second-half points, and forced Pirates’ coach Ricky Stokes to burn two timeouts in the first five minutes of the second half.

McCauley posted a double double, scoring 20 points and 10 rebounds. Half of those points came from the charity stripe.

When McCauley wasn’t doing it inside, Brandon Costner was doing it outside. He totaled 12 points in the game, all of which came in the second half, and made some critical three-pointers at various points of the contest. Costner also sunk two of his three free throw attempts to give the Pack the lead for good with 1:37 remaining.

NCSU was also aided by some erratic ball-handling by ECU point guard Darrell Jenkins, who committed four turnovers on the night.

After shooting 53.6 percent (15-of-28) from the floor, including 5-of-9 from three-point range in the first half, ECU reverted to its old ways and shot 33.3 percent after the break.

The result? The Wolfpack outscored the Pirates, 45-23, over the final 22 minutes of the game.

Gavin Grant and Courtney Fells also scored in double figures for Sidney Lowe’s club, tallying 13 and 10 points, respectively.

Despite the loss, East Carolina has to be encouraged with its defensive and rebounding performances without the presence of 6’9” freshman center John Fields. It held NC State to 41.9 percent from the floor and the Pirates outrebounded the Pack, 34-31. Freshman Gabe Blair pulled down a team-high 11 boards.

East Carolina will have the weekend off before bringing in the New Year with a January 1st contest at in-state, ACC foe Wake Forest. The game, which was moved from January 2 nd due to the Deacons’ Orange Bowl game with Louisville, will tip-off at 2 p.m at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Winston-Salem.

*A preview of this match-up will be released on Saturday, December 30th.