Playing without our staring point guard (and best player), we still hung in there with the #9 team in the country. This is coming after getting blownout against #2 Kansas just 4 days earlier.



Wolfpack Shoots 69 Percent in Second Half to Rally For Win
Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2004


RALEIGH, N.C. – At pre-game shootaround Wednesday afternoon, Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns men’s basketball head coach Robert Lee vowed his team would put forth a better effort than the experience of a 45-point loss at No. 2 Kansas last Saturday.

Lee proved to be a prophet as his Ragin’ Cajuns did not allow No. 12 North Carolina State to take a double-digit lead the entire evening and were within two points with eight seconds remaining after Tiras Wade nailed a leaning three-point basket to pull the Cajuns within 74-72.

Cameron Bennerman made two crucial free throws with seven seconds left and the Wolfpack (8-0) added a buzzer-beating shot in posting a 78-72 victory over the Cajuns (3-5) here Wednesday evening at the RBC Center.

Wade scored a career-high and game-high 37 points making five 3-point field goals in 40 minutes of action. Wade’s scoring performance set the record for most points scored by a player in RBC Center history.

Andrew Brackman led NCSU with 20 points on 6-of-6 shooting and was the key catalyst for the Wolfpack midway through the second half after Louisiana had rallied to take a 48-47 lead with 11:33 remaining in the contest.

Brackman rebounded a missed three-point shot by Ilian Evtimov at 10:30 and slammed home the offensive rebound to put the Pack on top 49-48.

After Levi Watkins hit a triple after a Dwayne Mitchell turnover on the next possession Brackman played hero for the Pack on the defensive end to help preserve the four-point margin.

Brackman blocked a shot by Mitchell on the ensuing possession and after a free throw by Evtimov gave NCSU a 53-48 lead at 9:18, Brackman blocked a layup attempt from Brian Hamilton which led to another free throw from Evtimov that stretched the advantage to 54-48 with 8:55 left to play.

Brackman then became the answer for the Pack on the offensive end on the next two possessions.

After a free throw by Hamilton trimmed the NCSU lead to 54-49 at 8:55, the freshman from Cincinnati took a lob pass over the Cajuns’ zone from Evtimov for an uncontested layup to push the margin to seven points.

Then when Wade connected on a triple with just under eight minutes left to play to make it 56-52 at 7:53, Brackman went inside again for a basket that increased the lead back to six points.

Louisiana could get no closer than five points over the next seven-plus minutes until a three-pointer by Anthony Rhodman with 20 seconds left to play cut the NCSU lead to 71-67.

The Wolfpack which had struggled from the free throw line for most of the game – shooting just 65 percent for the contest – would then make five of its final six attempts to hold of the late Cajuns rally.

The Wolfpack wound up using a 29-11 advantage in free throws made to seal the victory. Louisiana had its chances at the charity stripe, but made just 11-of-21 attempts.

The Cajuns outrebounded NCSU 42-25 and had a season-high 18 assists despite the absence of injured starting point guard Orien Greene, but were undone by the 10 missed freebies and 23 turnovers committed.

NCSU shot just 30 percent in the opening half (6-of-20), but connected on 68 percent of its shots in the second frame (15-of-22) scoring 55 points to complete the comeback from a five-point halftime deficit.

The Pack made its first four field goal attempts of the second stanza, three of which were from behind the three-point arc, to score 11 points in the first two minutes of the half and take a 34-30 lead with 17:55 left to play.

The Wolfpack opened an 8-0 lead through the first five minutes of the contest as Louisiana missed its first three field goal attempts and turned the ball over five times.

The Cajuns scoreless drought ended at 14:10 when Ross Mouton made a three-point basket on the left wing that made it 8-3.

NCSU led by as many as nine points, 12-3, after trips to the free throw line on the next two possessions with the last two coming at 13:13.

UL made its first push one minute later when Wade scored the first of 16 first-half points with a jumper 19 feet out on the right wing to cut the Pack lead to 12-5. The Cajuns closed within five points after a missed three-pointer by Tony Bethel on the other end. Mouton found Brian Hamilton streaking down the floor for a fastbreak layup that closed the gap to 12-7.

NCSU still led by six points at 10:37 when a fadeaway jumper from Hodge made it 16-10.

That would be the last NCSU basket until Hodge made another jumper with 4:23 remaining before halftime as the Cajuns staged a 18-7 run that vaulted the visitors to a 28-23 lead at the break.

Louisiana trailed 16-10 at 10:37 before a 9-0 run gave the Cajuns their first lead of the contest.

Wade converted a three-point play following Hodge’s jumper that made it 16-13 at 10:16.

Back-to-back triples by Wade and Spencer Ford at 9:40 and 8:57 respectively gave Louisiana a 19-16 lead at 8:57.

The Wolfpack worked its way back into a tie after the seven-minute media timeout with three free throws from Evtimov. Wade made his third triple of the half on the ensuing possession as the Cajuns reclaimed the lead 22-19 at 6:03.

The Cajuns lost the lead at 4:31 when Hodge hit a fadeaway jumper to put NCSU up 23-22. Louisiana regained the lead just 17 seconds later on a Cameron jumper.

UL added four more points in the final four minutes of the first half and thanks to several unforced errors by the Wolfpack was able to keep NCSU off the board to build a 28-23 edge going into the locker room.

Box Score
Louisiana at #12 NC State
12/15/04 9:00pm at RBC Center

NC STATE 78, LOUISIANA 72

LOUISIANA (3-5)Wade 13-26 6-9 37; Cameron, 5-7 0-0 11; Hamilton 2-8 4-8 8; Mitchell 3-8 1-4 7; Rhodman 1-1 0-0 3; Ford 1-7 0-0 3; Mouton 1-2 0-0 3; James 0-0 0-0 0; Gray 0-1 0-0 0; Williams 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-60 11-21 72.
NC STATE (8-0) Brackman 6-6 7-8 20; Hodge 5-9 6-14 16; Bethel 5-9 1-2 14; Bennerman 1-5 8-8 11; Watkins 2-4 1-2 6; Evtimov 0-2 5-8 5; Collins 1-3 0-0 3; Atsur 1-4 1-2 3. Totals 21-42 29-44 78.

Louisiana........................... 28 44 - 72
NC State Wolfpack............. 23 55 - 78

3-point goals-Louisiana 9-17 (Wade 5-9; Ford, 1-4; Cameron 1-1; Rhodman 1-1; Mouton 1-1; Gray 0-1), NC State 7-22 (Bethel 3-7; Watkins 1-3; Bennerman 1-4; Brackman 1-1; Collins 1-1; Atsur 0-3; Evtimov 0-1; Hodge 0-2). Fouled out--Louisiana-Ford; Mitchell; Hamilton, NC State-Brackman. Rebounds-Louisiana 42 (Cameron 8), NC State 25 (Hodge 5). Assists-Louisiana 18 (Mitchell 8), NC State 13 (Hodge 5; Evtimov 5). Total fouls-Louisiana 30, NC State 21. A-10036

-Ragin' Cajuns-

I was really hoping we would pull it off, but we couldn't finish the game off. I'm hoping we got some good experience playing these two teams and finish off the season strong for the conference tournament. I really expect this team to go far if we can keep up the play with Green gone.