NC STATE IN THE 54th ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT
DATE: Thur.-Sun., March 8-11, 2007 @ St. Pete Times Forum, Tampa, FL
SCHEDULE: Click on link below for ACC Tournament bracket:
RADIO: Wolfpack Sports Network
AIRTIMES: Thursday, March 8 at 6:30 p.m., Friday, March 9 at 11:30 a.m. & 6:30 p.m., Saturday, March 10 at 1:00 p.m., Sunday, March 11 at 12:30 p.m.
TELEVISION: Raycom/Lincoln Financial Sports, ESPN and espn2
TOURNAMENT HISTORY -- In the early years of the ACC Tournament, everyone regarded the tournament champion as the ACC champion. However, it wasn't until July 1, 1961, that the words "and the winner shall be the conference champion" were added to the ACC bylaws. NC State won the first three ACC Tournament championships and has notched ten titles overall. The last ACC championship for NC State came in 1987 when the Wolfpack beat North Carolina 68-67. Overall, the Pack has a 58-43 ACC Tournament record. It is the third best in the league behind North Carolina and Duke.
For the 54th ACC Tournanent, the Wolfpack will enter as a No. 10 seed for the first time. This will also be the first ACC Tournament for Sidney Lowe as State?s head coach. The Pack has a 13-10 record in the ACC Tournament with three trips to the championship game since 1996-97. State has recorded at least one ACC Tournament victory in 8 of the last 10 years.
The most points ever scored by an NC State player in ACC Tournament competition is shared by two men. Tommy Burleson tallied 38 points against Maryland in 1974 while David Thompson scored 38 versus Virginia in 1975. John Richter holds NC State's single game ACC Tournament rebounding record with 23 against South Carolina in 1959. Phil DiNardo, Herb Applebaum, Joe Cafferky, and Chris Corchiani share the school's single tournament game assist record with nine. The Wolfpack's best field goal percentage in an ACC Tournament game came in 1975 when NC State sank 36 of 60 shots against Maryland (.600).
Since being moved from NC State's Reynolds Coliseum where it was held from 1954-66, the ACC Tournament has been hosted at the Charlotte Coliseum, the Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland, the Omni and Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia, Washington?s Verizon Center and the Greensboro (N.C.) Coliseum. This is the first time Tampa, Florida, has hosted the event.
NC STATE'S FIRST ROUND AND POSSIBLE QUARTERFINAL OPPONENTS--The winner of Thursday?s night?s game between NC State and Duke will advance to meet No.2 seeded Virginia on Friday at 7:00 p.m. During the regular season, Duke beat NC State 79-56 in Raleigh on Jan. 20. The Blue Devils held the Wolfpack to 34 percent shooting from the field and scored 25 points off 20 State turnovers. Brandon Costner led the Pack with 20 points and 10 rebounds. He was 11-12 from the foul line. John Scheyer led Duke with 20 points.
The Blue Devils (22-9, 8-8) are coming off back-to-back losses including an 86-72 decision at UNC on Sunday. State has dropped 3 of its last 4 decisions, including a 79-59 loss at Maryland on Saturday. Thursday?s game marks the 23rd meeting between the two schools in the ACC Tournament. Duke has a 14-8 edge over the Pack in ACC Tournament action.
Duke is the No.7 seed in this year?s tournament, its lowest seed since earning the ninth seed in the 1995 tournament. Duke topped State 83-70 in the play-in game that year. Duke is 0-3 all-time when entering the ACC Tournament as the seventh seed. The Blue Devils have won 20 of the last 22 meetings with State.
The Blue Devils are 8-2 in ACC Tournament action against NC State under Mike Krzyzewski including wins in the 2002 and 2003 championship games.
Virginia swept a two-game regular season series with State, winning in Charlottesville on December 3rd 67-62 and beating the Wolfpack in Raleigh 71-58 on Jan. 24th. Poor shooting plagued State in both games. The Wolfpack shot a combined 36 percent from the field in the two games and lost the battle of the boards by an average of 11 rebounds.
The Cavaliers (20-9, 11-5) ended the regular season on a roller coaster. Virginia registered two quality wins over Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech, but the Cavs were upset by Miami and Wake Forest. The 78-72 loss to the Deacons last Saturday cost the Wahoos the outright ACC regular season title and the No.1 seed for the ACC Tournament.
A STATE WIN?Would be the second for the Wolfpack in the last 3 games and would move State into Friday?s ACC quarterfinals against Virginia. The Pack would break a 4-game losing streak to Duke in the series and would record its first victory over the Blue Devils since State upset top-ranked Duke 78-74 on Feb. 15, 2004. The Pack would improve to 16-14 overall, assuring a winning regular season record. State would also enhance its resume for a possible post-season bid to the NIT. Sidney Lowe would earn his first ACC Tournament victory as a coach and record at least one victory over each of the Pack?s Big-Four rivals this season. Duke?s regular season would end at 22-10 overall.
A STATE LOSS?Would end the regular season for the Wolfpack with a two-game losing streak and losses in 4 of its last 5 games. State?s record would drop to 15-15, but the Pack would still be eligible for selection to the NIT. Duke would beat the Pack for the fifth straight time in the series and for the second time in-a-row this season. Duke would improve to 23-9 and move to 43-15 in the ACC Tournament under Mike Krzyzewski. The Blue Devils have won seven of the last eight ACC Tournament championships and are the defending champions.
Note: Following NC State's game against Duke on Thursday night, the Wolfpack Sports Network will have play-by-play coverage of all tourney games from Friday through Sunday.