The Wolfpack struggled with the Georgia State Panthers for most of the first 26 minutes of its first regular season action of 2009 before eventually pulling away for a 69-53 victory Thursday night at the RBC Center. Four freshmen, Scott Wood, Deshawn Painter, Jordan Vandenberg and Josh Davis, played for at least nine minutes, with Wood leading the way with eight points in 30 minutes.
“I think we played well as a whole,” senior forward Dennis Horner said. “Absolutely, with a lot of new guys on the team, it’s good to get a win and get the morale going high in the locker room.”
After building a 25-13 lead, the Panthers outscored N.C. State 16-7 over the remaining 5:22 in the first half to cut the Pack’s lead to three points at 32-29 going into the half.
The team’s second leading scorer on the night, sophomore point guard Julius Mays, said the team realized it was getting outworked defensively and focused on changing that after the break.
“What we talked about was getting up defensively,” Mays said. “When we came in at the half, they were playing harder than us on defense. They were getting offensive rebounds and they were getting up on us on defense, pressuring us. We weren’t doing them like they were doing us.”
The Panthers stayed within striking distance for the first six minutes after the intermission, and with 13:44 remaining, the game was tied at 37 and hanging in the balance. State finally took over after that point and pulled away, outscoring the Panthers 32-16 the rest of the way to account for the final 16 point margin of victory.
“In the second half we turned up the defense and it led to some easy baskets. That run at the end opened it up,” Horner said.
Though coach Sidney Lowe’s team certainly did not dominate the opposition from start to finish, he said he liked what he saw and believes his young team will improve, especially if the veterans provide the type of leadership they did in the opener.
“I think you saw some of our youth,” Lowe said. “We’re really a young team, a very young team when you talk about numbers. We’ve got some guys in there where that was their first live game, so to speak. In time it will be fine. I thought that the veteran guys that were in there kept control.
Meanwhile one veteran sat the game out for what Lowe called an “academic problem.” Senior guard Farnold Degand didn’t dress for the game and is out indefinitely.
”I wasn’t pleased with Farnold’s effort academically,” Lowe said. ”He’s eligible, so that’s not the problem, but we have rules. Until he shows it and I’m satisfied with it, he won’t play.”
