Gary Hahn's Scouting Report: Seton Hall
Wolfpack and Pirates square off Wednesday night.
Jan. 25, 2006
No. 15/14 NC STATE (15-3) vs. SETON HALL (10-6)
DATE: Wednesday, January 25, 2006 @ RBC Center, Raleigh, NC (19,722)
TIME: Tip-off: 7:00 p.m.
RADIO: Wolfpack Sports Network
AIRTIME: 6:30 p.m.
TELEVISION: ESPN Classic
OPPONENT-- After losing three straight games to Rutgers, Marquette and Villanova, Seton Hall won a 94-89 overtime thriller over visiting South Florida last Friday. The Pirates erased a 12-point deficit in the final 3:56 of regulation to force the overtime period and win their second Big East game of the year. Jamar Nutter, who scored a career-high 28 points, led Seton Hall.
The Pirates held a 39-36 advantage at halftime, but struggled after the break and trailed for nearly the entire second half before finally tying the game in the closing moments.
When South Florida's Chris Capko stepped over the baseline after Seton Hall's Brian Laing scored, the Pirates wasted no time going down-low to senior Kelly Whitney, who hit a lay-up that tied the game, 76-76, at the 1:07 mark.
The two teams traded points down the stretch, James Holmes, who led the Bulls with 35 points, made two free-throws with 38 seconds remaining to put USF up by two, but Seton Hall answered with two more points from Nutter, and the game went into an extra period, tied 78-78.
South Florida (6-12, 0-5) tied the score in overtime at 87-87 behind 3-pointers from Holmes and Melvin Buckley. But Seton Hall iced the game after Donald Copeland hit a three with 1:30 remaining and Laing and freshman Paul Gause were a perfect 4-for-4 from the line in the final 20 seconds.
Nutter was the big story for Seton Hall, shooting 10-for-16 from the field, including 5-of-8 from the arc. Gause netted a career-high 18 points and tied a career-high with four steals. Whitney finished with 11 points and eight rebounds, despite shooting just 3-for-9 from the field. Laing chipped in 10 points and Copeland dished out a career-high nine assists to go along with his 17 points.
With the exception of a 93-40 loss at Duke in November, Seton Hall played a relatively soft non-conference schedule and won 9 of its first 12 games. However, lately the competition has improved and so has the level of adversity.
The Pirates lost starting forward, Stan Gaines, indefinitely when he suffered facial fractures while going after a loose ball against Villanova last week. The junior transfer from Minnesota averaged nearly 27 minutes a game and is the team's best one-on-one defender. Laing replaced Gaines at small forward against USF and played 24 minutes.
Although they shot 51 percent in the win over South Florida, the Pirates have not been a consistently good shooting team. For the season, they're hitting only 41 percent from the field and 32 percent from three-point range while averaging 68 points a game. However, Seton Hall gets back 42 percent of its missed shots and is averaging nearly 14 offensive rebounds a game. The Pirates are outrebounding their opponents by an impressive +6 margin.
Defensively, Seton Hall is allowing an average of 64 points and a stingy 40 percent shooting from the field. However, USF shot 53 percent against the Pirates including 9-of-22 from three-point range (.409).
The majority of perimeter shots for the Pirates come from Nutter and Copeland. They're the team's best three-point shooters. Nutter has averaged 18.5 points in his last 4 games while shooting 50-percent from the field during that stretch.
Copeland owns the Pirates' best percentage from beyond the arc (.378) and leads in three-point field goals and attempts (34-90). The senior also tops Seton Hall in assists, steals and free throw percentage (.849).
Inside, Whitney is the dominant player. He's quick, skilled and strong. The senior, who played one season of prep ball at Christian Faith Center Academy in Creedmoor, NC, led the Pirates in scoring and rebounding last season and could repeat again. In his last 6 games, Whitney has averaged 18.5 points, including a 29 point performance at Rutgers.
The sparkplug off the bench for Seton Hall is Gause who has stepped up his game lately. Against Villanova last week, the 5-11 freshman had 13 points, 7 rebounds and no turnovers in 22 minutes. Gause also helped the Hall beat St. John's by hitting the game-tying shot that forced overtime on January 4th.
The Pirates are coached by former Syracuse All-American, Louis Orr, who is in his fifth season. His record at Seton Hall is 72-63.
PROBABLE SETON HALL STARTERS
No. Name Pos. Ht. Class PPG RPG APG 02 Jamar Nutter G 6'2 Jr. 11.0 4.5 1.3 10 Donald Copeland G 5'10 Sr. 15.4 2.5 4.1 33 Grant Billmeier C 6'10 Jr. 3.4 3.5 -- 01 Kelly Whitney F 6'8 Sr. 14.3 7.6 1.0* 14 Brian Laing F 6'5 So. 5.9 2.9 --
TOP SETON HALL RESERVES 22 Paul Gause G 5'11 Fr. 6.1 2.3 1.4# 32 David Palmer F 6'9 Fr. 3.2 2.2 -- 20 Carl Marshall G 5'11 Jr. 1.9 0.6 -- 50 Marcus Cousin C 6'10 So. 2.9 4.7 --
* Blocked shots per game. # Steals per game
A WIN--Would be the Wolfpack's 11th in its last 13 games, improving State to 16-3 overall. The Pack would remain unbeaten at home (13-0) and finish its regular season-non-conference schedule with a record of 12-1. State would even its all-time series with Seton Hall at 2-2 and beat the Pirates for the first time in Raleigh since the 1953-54 season. State's home winning streak against non-conference opponents would improve to 10 straight.
A LOSS--Would be the second in the last three games for the Wolfpack and the first at home this season, dropping State to 15-4 overall. The Pack would finish its regular season non-conference schedule with an 11-2 record and suffer its first non-conference loss at home since West Virginia beat the Wolfpack at the RBC Center on Jan. 2, 2005. Seton Hall would record its second straight win, improving to 11-6 and take a 3-1 lead in the all-time series with NC State.
THE POINTS STOP HERE --The Wolfpack is holding opponents to 63.2 points a game, the third-best number in the ACC. State leads the league in field goal percentage defense (.386) and is 3rd in three-point percentage defense (.306).
MAKING HACKERS PAY--State sank 37-of-43 free throw attempts in its win over Wake Forest on January 21st. The Pack is third in the ACC in free throw shooting (.745).
WHY NOT THREE INSTEAD OF TWO? --State is No. 3 in the ACC in three-point percentage (.383) and has made more three-points shots (158) than anyone in the league this season. About 43 percent of the Pack's field goal attempts come from behind the arc (412-of-952).
BETHEL BOMBS AWAY --Senior guard Tony Bethel leads the team in 3-point field goal percentage (.485) and has made 17 of his last 28 shots from the three-point arc (61%). In his last 6 games, he is shooting 27-of-49 from the field (55%). Bethel is NC State's best perimeter on-the-ball defender and is also a highly skilled playmaker and rebounder. Against Wake Forest on January 21st, Bethel had 11 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 5 steals.
ATTA' WAY ATSUR -- Engin Atsur is more than a deadly 3-point shooter (.451). The native of Istanbul, Turkey, is 7th in the ACC in assists (4.3)while ranking No.2 in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.22). The 6-4 junior leads the Pack in assists (77), steals (28) and minutes (32.1). Atsur has only 16 turnovers in his last 12 games. He's scored in double-figures in 10 of his last 11 games while shooting 50 percent from the three-point line (29-58) during that span. Atsur has started 76 consecutive games.
AS THE BALL TURNS --The Wolfpack had 17 turnovers in its loss at No. 1 Duke on Jan. 18 and the Blue Devils converted them into 28 points. However, for the season the Pack is averaging only 13 turnovers a game.
THE HIGHLIGHT CAM -- Cameron Bennerman has elevated his game. The athletic senior scored a career-high 26-points against Wake Forest on Saturday. In his last 12 appearances, Bennerman has averaged 14.9 points a game (179) while shooting 59 percent from the field during that span (72-of-123).
BETTER BOARDWORK-- The Pack outrebounded Duke 34-33 on Jan 18th to continue its improvement in that area. State has won the battle of the boards in 5 of its last 8 games and is 5th in the ACC in defensive rebounds (25.1) per game.
SIMMONS HAS BEEN SUPER --The most improved player on the NC State team is Cedric Simmons. The sophomore center recorded a career-high 28 points at Duke on Jan. 18th along with 9 rebounds, 7 blocked shots and 3 steals. Simmons played in 31 games last season and averaged 3.5 points and 1.8 rebounds. This season, he leads the team in scoring (12.9), rebounding (6.9) and blocked shots (3.1) while shooting a team high .635 from the field. He is No.2 in the ACC in blocked shots and is among the top-25 in scoring and rebounding.
HERE, YOU TAKE IT --NC State is averaging an assist on an impressive 65 percent of its field goals (303-of-465) this season.
MR. ENERGY --Andrew Brackman, has come off the bench to energize the Pack. The 6-10 sophomore has scored in double-figures in 5 of his last 8 games. During that span, Brackman has averaged 11.6 points (93) while shooting 57 percent from the field (31-of-54).
INJURIES --Freshman forward Brandon Costner could miss his 13th straight game for the Wolfpack with a leg injury. Seton Hall forward Stan Gaines is expected to miss his 2nd consecutive game with facial fractures.
