Tobacco Road Report

By Michael

After losing Engin Atsur with a hamstring pull with 14:23 remaining in the first half, N.C. State went to a 2-3 zone to slow the pace and keep the already thin Wolfpack out of foul trouble. The zone was just what the doctor ordered as Michigan went cold from the three point line and N.C. State outscored the Wolverines 31-14 the rest of the way until halftime. Michigan made a run in the second half, but the Wolfpack had enough down the stretch to hold them off, winning 74-67 and giving the ACC an early 1-0 lead in the 2007 ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

Michigan (7-1) came out hot and opened up an early 16-4 lead. The Wolfpack (5-0) began the game in man-to-man, but the quicker and more athletic Wolverines were able to get penetration and offensive rebounds with ease. Once the Wolfpack went to zone, however, the Wolverines found the interior clogged and resorted to three point shots as an attempt to loosen the zone.

At first, and despite the fact that the initial shots against the zone weren't falling, Michigan showed good patience, penetration, and ball movement on offense. These are the three key elements to defeating a zone. However, as the shots didn't fall, Michgan became more and more hesitant and their confidence waned. Michigan finished 8-29 (28 percent) from behind the arc, with Dion Harris shooting a woeful 4-14 on his own.

This opened the door for N.C. State to take advantage of Michigan's main weakness: it's defense. As we noted in our pregame review here, Michigan has been a weak defensive team in recent years and this squad is no different. The Wolfpack was able to use backdoor cuts and practically non-existent post defense by Michigan to get easy bucket after easy bucket.

It's strangely odd to watch a team coached by Amaker, a previous ACC defensive player of the year, display such poor defensive fundamentals. Costner (17 points, 10 rebounds) and McCauley (19 points, 7 rebounds) were able to get position wherever they wanted for the Wolfpack. Together the two were 15-28 from the field and grabbed 6 offensive rebounds.

Michigan finally went into a 2-3 zone of their own with 12:00 remaining in the game, and promptly went on a 7-0 run to close the Wolfpack lead to 55-41, but the move came too late. Had Amaker switched to the zone earlier and packed it in on Costner and McCauley, Michigan may have had enough to pull this one out.

But the Wolfpack did what they had to do and they emerge victorious in the short run. Lowe will need Atsur going forward, so we'll have to keep an eye out for his status in the coming days. Hamstring injuries can be notoriously slow to heal.

Update: The updated box score reflects Costner with 11 rebounds and McCauley with 8. Together the two grabbed 7 offensive rebounds. We try to get the most updated information, but unfortunately the official box scores are sometimes altered after we go to post.