The men’s basketball team opened its season Thursday night in historic Reynolds Coliseum in an exhibition matchup against St. Paul’s College. The game was restricted to students and season ticket holders.
From the moment of tip-off till the buzzer sounded, the Pack played strongly, demolishing the Tigers, 84-42. State had a 58.9 field goal percentage and went 73.3 percent on the line. According to coach Sidney Lowe, the team played well in a number of areas, especially playing unselfishly.
“We played well tonight,” Lowe said. “We did several things well. We had good pace and took advantage of situations well, we really got to go inside. We had 24 assists on 33 baskets. That’s just showing that the guys are very unselfish and are trying to get the ball to the right guy.”
Men’s Basketball vs. St. Paul 11/5/09 from Wolf TV 105 on Vimeo.
The Pack shut out St. Paul’s during the first three minutes of play, scoring eight points. Freshman small forward Scott Wood, who started the game, made a big impact for the Wolfpack, throwing up four for four consecutive three-pointers and playing 15 minutes during the first half.
“It’s impressive that he could come out and do that in front of a crowd and shoot the way he did,” Lowe said. “He’s capable of doing that, and I don’t want to jinx it, but that’s what I’ve been saying since he got here.”
The Pack defense showed hustle against the Tigers, gaining 39 defensive rebounds and 14 turnovers.
“We were very active with our hands,” Lowe said. “They did a nice job of protecting each other and really getting our hands on some passes and that’s what you want to do. We like to try to keep pace and certainly get the passes and steals.”
Junior forward Tracy Smith, the high scorer of the game, had 21 points. Wood followed with 12. Javier Gonzalez led the Pack in assists with six, followed by C.J. Williams with five. According to senior forward Tracy Smith, the Pack showed a unified team for a change.
“We are going to be very unselfish,” Smith said. “Last year we had a couple of guys that
were very selfish on the team and wanted to go for themselves. But this
year, we changed up our whole game. We are going to be more of a running
team and look for the post early or look for the jump shot early.”
Most of the team made it off the bench during the game. With a young team, Wood and fellow freshmen DeShawn Painter, Josh Davis and Jordan Vandenberg all saw significant playing time.
“They have come along way,” Gonzalez said. “And Scott [Wood], He’s just Scott. He just shoots the ball. They were leaving him wide open, and if he’s open, it’s going to be a three.”
With a fast paced game, State was able to stay head of the Tigers through the game’s entirety, especially at the beginning of the second half. State really stepped up the pace, only allowing St. Paul’s to score six points while the Pack gathered 20 points during the first five minutes.
Gonzalez said he enjoyed playing the game in Reynolds with a Wolfpack crowd.
“I liked it,” Gonzalez said. “It’s hot; kind of reminds me of Purto Rico. Lots of the gyms didn’t have air conditioning so I kind of liked it.”
The team only totaled 11 offensive rebounds, which is something Lowe said will be worked on in practice today.
“[Practice today] will be a lot of rebounding — block out drills,” Lowe said. “We still have a ways to go but it was good tonight and we just have to continue to work at it.”
