North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State
Western Carolina
Williams, Pack Roll Over Catamounts, 82-55
12/31/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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Dec. 31, 2011
RALEIGH, N.C. - Early in Saturday's New Year's Eve contest between NC State and Western Carolina, both teams fought hard to snap out of a post-holiday haze. In the first five minutes, neither the Wolfpack nor Catamounts made a field goal, combining to miss nine shots.
After watching the Wolfpack miss its first five shots, first-year coach Mark Gottfried was not impressed with way his team was executing the offense, and no one in the RBC Center was happier to see the game's first official timeout at the 15:40 mark, if only so he could remind his squad to get the ball moving.
When play resumed, the Wolfpack did just that, scoring on seven of its next eight possessions to break open the game. Most of those baskets came in transition, including 3-pointers by junior Scott Wood and senior C.J. Williams, as State poured on the points against the Catamounts throughout the rest of the first half.
By intermission, the Pack had nearly doubled the Catamounts, owning a 47-24 lead at the break.
"I thought we were able to get some things going because of our defense," Gottfried said afterwards. "We not only defended well, but we defended with purpose. We wanted to take some things away from them, and we were able to do what we wanted."
The Wolfpack (10-4), thanks to a 57.7 shooting percentage from the floor, continued to click in the second half, leading by as many as 41 points with 8:25 remaining in the game. Sophomore Lorenzo Brown kept his team efficient and on the move. He scored 14 points on his own and dished out eight assists.
All five starters scored in double figures, led by 21 points from Williams, who made eight of his 10 field goal attempts and all three of his 3-point attempts. It was third game this season that the senior from Fayetteville, N.C., has scored more than 20 points.
For the third consecutive game, junior Richard Howell posted a double-double, with 12 points and 14 rebounds. He's had at least 12 boards in the Pack's last four games, for a combined total of 56.
"Richard has been outstanding for us during this stretch," Gottfried said. "He's been rebounding the ball efficiently, and getting the ball out to his guards quickly. That's allowed us to get the offense moving pretty quickly when we needed to."
Sophomore C.J. Leslie also had 14 points for the Pack, followed by Wood with 11.
It's first time since last year's game against Duke that the Wolfpack has had five players in double figures.
Wood made a pair of free throws after a second-half technical foul on a Western Carolina player and has now made all 31 of his foul shots this season. Over two seasons, Wood has made a 39 consecutive free throws, which is tied for the 10th longest streak in ACC history.
The Wolfpack plays its final nonconference game of the season when it hosts Delaware State in a 7 p.m. contest at the RBC Center. Next Sunday, State opens its ACC season with a 6 p.m. contest against Maryland.
Highlights courtesy of WolfpackTV
