Temple University Athletics
NORTH CAROLINA STATE'S SECOND HALF BLITZ DERAILS OWLS, 80-61
1.26.02 | Men's Basketball
Temple's Kevin Lyde got the Owls off to a good start by scoring the first four points for the visitors. Then it was sophomore Brian Polk who hit a barrage of baskets, scoring 14 straight points from the 16:56 mark to the 8:51 mark, keeping Temple even with the Wolfpack at 18-all. Senior's Archie Miller and Anthony Grundy totalled 12 (6 each) of North Carolina State's first 18 points. Center Ron Rollerson and forward David Hawkins scored 4 and 5 points respectively to give the Owls their biggest lead of the first half at 27-23. Another basket by Polk, who would lead the Owls with 19 points, and a free throw by freshman Nile Murry rounded out the first half scoring with Temple up, 30-27.
Arguable, it was the best first half of basketball the Owls played all year, especially considering their All-America candidate, Lynn Greer, was held scoreless.
The second half would be a totally different story. Continuing to use a smothering defense, the Wolfpack caused numerous turnovers and held the Owls to just two field goals in the first 9:26 and went on a 26-7 run to blow the game wide open, 53-37.
Freshman Julius Hodge scored all of his 10 points to fuel the run along with guard Anthony Grundy who scored 11 of his game-high 20 points. Even more impressive was the defense played by Hodge, who blanketed Greer all game. The senior guard was held scoreless until he converted two free throws with 8:46 left in the game. Greer, who played 35 minutes, was held without a field goal in the game for the first time since March 10, 2000 when he scored just a single point in Temple's 54-47 win over Massachusetts in the semi-finals of the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament. It also ended his streak of 36 consecutive
games scoring in double figures.
The Wolfpack did most of their damage in the second half at the foul line. They converted 21-of-26 free throws. Ilian Evtimov, who scored 12 of his 15 points in the second half, was a perfect 6-for-6 as was Hodge.
Brian Polk led the Owls in scoring with 19 points while David Hawkins chipped in with 15. Grundy led the Wolfpack with 20 points.
Up next, the Owls take on Fordham at The Liacouras Center on Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m.
