Chris Reynolds
During the game’s first timeout, with the home team down 10-8, the crowd at the RBC Center happily sang N.C. State coach Herb Sendek “Happy Birthday” to celebrate Sendek’s 43rd birthday.
At halftime, a mere 15 minutes later, with State down 46-34, the crowd’s mood was dimmed, but not dead.
But, at the 3:41 mark in the second half, the aisles out were full of dejected Wolfpack fans, as State lost to North Carolina 95-71 Wednesday night in Raleigh.
“North Carolina was absolutely outstanding tonight,” Sendek said. “They certainly whipped us in every way. We are very disappointed in our effort and in our play tonight. It was certainly as lopsided as the score indicated.”
The loss puts No. 15 State (21-6, 10-4 ACC) only half a game up on No. 21 Carolina (18-6, 9-4) in the ACC — allowing the Pack to secure the second seed in the conference tournament if they should win their final two games, at home against Boston College and at Wake Forest.
Senior forward David Noel led the Tar Heels by shooting 10-of-14 for 25 points in 35 minutes. He also had 11 rebounds in the game.
“David Noel was sensational,” Carolina coach Roy Williams said. “That’s as well as he’s played. We weren’t able to get the ball to Tyler [Hansbrough] like we wanted, but I think Cedric Simmons and the N.C. State defense had a lot to do with that.”
Junior guard Engin Atsur, who tied for a team-leading 16 points in the game with sophomore Andrew Brackman, said his team played poor defense Wednesday night, and it couldn’t afford to let anyone pull away the way Noel did.
“You don’t want to give any one person 18 points in the first half,” Atsur said. “We just couldn’t guard them. One guy had 25. One guy had 20. One guy had 17. They played a very high percentage game, and that shows our poor defensive effort.”
Carolina held senior guard Tony Bethel to six points in the contest on 2-of-7 shooting. He also came up empty on four attempts from behind the arc.
Carolina out-rebounded State 43-26; a margin Sendek said played a vital role in the loss.
“They keep coming at you with their style of play. They really do,” he said. “They beat us on the boards throughout the game, and that rebounding margin is so significant.”
Redshirt senior forward Ilian Evtimov, who had only two points in his first game back after straining the Lisfranc ligament in his foot against Florida State a week ago, said the Heels were more physical than the Pack in the game.
“There is just this physical factor with them,” he said. “They’ve got a lot of confidence that they can go on the boards and dominate. It becomes contagious for their team.”
State’s final home game of the 2006 campaign is Saturday at 3:45 p.m. against Boston College, a day on which the RBC Center crowd will say “goodbye” to Bethel, Evtimov and Cameron Bennerman on Senior Day.
“You’re constantly evaluating where your team is,” Sendek said. “Things change quickly in college basketball. You’ve got to move forward quickly, and that’s what we’ll do.”