Looking for its second conference win, the men’s basketball team (11-8, 1-5) will travel to Cassell Coliseum to take on No. 16 Virginia Tech (16-5, 6-1) at 9 p.m. tonight.
For the second straight game, N.C. State has to face off against an elite pair of veteran guards. Last Wednesday, the Wolfpack gave up 56 points to Virginia’s Sean Singletary and J.R. Reynolds en route to a 71-58 loss. Tonight, coach Sidney Lowe hopes to prevent Virginia Tech guards Zabian Dowdell and Jamon Gordon from giving him deja vu.
“Great guard play wins games,” Lowe said. “We’re going against another great backcourt, and we have to be ready to play.”
Dowdell is 3rd in the ACC in scoring at 18.3 points per game. He teams with Gordon to run an offense that boasts an ACC-best plus-five average turnover margin.
“While I don’t like playing against those guys, certainly there is a lot of respect there and admiration because they do it the right way, and it’s all about winning basketball games and doing whatever you have to do to help your ball club,” Lowe said.
Even though Lowe said he’d rather not play against top-notch guards, he said the Wolfpack has plenty of good news from its backcourt. Senior guard Engin AtsŸr played against Virginia after missing 12-of-13 games with a hamstring injury. Lowe said his presence on the floor was all it took to give State a boost.
“The morale of our team when he’s in there is different,” Lowe said. “The mere fact that he was out there and that he wanted to play, that says a lot about him.”
According to his coach, AtsŸr was not 100 percent in the last game, but Lowe thinks he can continue to improve as his confidence in his injured hamstring grows.
“I would say he was probably 50 percent. I think he thought about [the hamstring],” Lowe said. “It’s just a thing of him getting more comfortable with it and confident. A 50 percent Engin is better than 100 percent of some other players.”
Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg also stressed the importance of AtsŸr’s return.
“Obviously, AtsŸr is a four-year starter and a guy who makes other people better,” Greenberg said. “He’s a very good player. He’s so much faster than people think he is, and he’s an aggressive defender.”
With the continued improvement of his senior guard, Lowe hopes to get his offense on track and overcome the dynamic duo of Dowdell and Gordon.
“He gets us into our offense. He gets the ball up the floor. He controls things and makes sure that everybody is in the right position,” Lowe said. “Just having him out there gives us a little bit.”
