In its game against Gardner-Webb (0-5) Friday night at the RBC Center, N.C. State (4-0) saw two different teams within the game — a first-half team that lacked execution and offensive production and a second-half team that had both.
Heading into the locker room during halftime, the Wolfpack found itself losing 36-33 to the Runnin’ Bulldogs after shooting 20 percent from the three-point line on 2-of-10 shooting, and shooting 37.5 percent from the free-throw line on 3-of-8 shooting.
Senior guard Engin Atsur carried the team offensively in the first half, scoring 16 of the team’s 36 points on six-of-eight shooting.
Sophomore forward Ben McCauley said Atsur’s first-half performance was timely with the team struggling, and he added it showed Atsur’s experience and veteran role on the young team.
“He kept us in the game,” McCauley said. “He is very strong mentally. We are a very young team and it is a little bit easy for us to get off key a little bit. He kept our heads in the game and played strong. That is the way Engin is.”
McCauley said coach Sidney Lowe told the team during halftime it had to start making shots and pounding the ball inside — something the team did, scoring its first 13 points of the second half off points-in-the-paint and free throws.
“We recognized that we had some mismatches inside, and we took advantage of it,” McCauley said. “That got us on a little bit of a run.”
The Pack improved on its first-half performance by shooting 65.6 percent from the floor, 40 percent from the three-point line and 69.2 percent from the free-throw line during the second half.
Lowe said the difference between the first half and the second half was the team’s ability to be patient and execute on offense.
“We came out of the gate taking quick jump shots, and that got us behind early,” Lowe said. “In the second half, we wanted to make a conservative effort to try and be patient and pound the ball inside.”
After Atsur’s first-half performance, junior forward Gavin Grant and McCauley combined to score the team’s first 13 points of the second half.
Then, after being limited to only seven minutes of playing time in the first half due to foul trouble, sophomore guard Courtney Fells provided a spark for State by scoring six consecutive points on two three-point shots.
Lowe said the team’s ability to have different players carry the team during different parts of the game was a huge asset.
“We have guys that can pick it up at any time,” Lowe said. “Engin certainly was huge for us in that first half scoring points and carrying us there. In the second half Gavin and then Courtney got on his run, which gave us a nice burst there, and of course Ben inside and Brandon [Costner].”
Lowe added the thing he likes most about his team is its ability to learn — the ability of players to continue to learn about each other and what they have to do “in order to win the game.”
“What I like about it is we can see when we start growing individually and try to do our own thing we are not playing as well as we should be,” Lowe said.
“These guys do a great job making adjustments and realizing what we’re doing and what we’re not doing. Tonight that was evident in the second half because we came out and picked up the defense but then we started passing the ball around better as well.”
Atsur scored a career-high 26 points on 10-of-15 shooting, and Grant finished with 23 points, 15 of which came in the second half.
