www.michigandaily.com sports@michigandaily.com SPORTS 7 Michigan staves off late Wolfpack attack Mathis finally on display in Wolverines'victory By Daniel Bremmer Daily Sports Writer Facing its first major-conference opponent of the season in front of a national television audience, Michigan pulled out a tough 68-61 victory against North Carolina State last night in the fifth annual ACC-Big Ten Challenge. "This was a big night for us," Michi- gan coach Tommy Amaker said, "(For our) former players, current players hopefully for the future." Leading the entire second half, the Wolverines had difficulty closing out the game. NORTH CAROLINA STATE (61) FG FT REB MIN M-A M-A 0-T A F PTS Hodge 38 10-16 5-7 1-8 5 3 25 Melvin 34 2-7 2-2 0-7 2 3 7 Evtimov 32 2-4 1-2 0-1 4 3 6 O'Donnell 14 1-4 0-0 0-2 2 1 3 Sherrill 31 5-11 2-2 2-5 2 4 14 Watkins 30 1-3 O-00-2043 Atsur 15 1-4 0-0 0-0 25 3 Bennerman 6 0-2 0-0 1-2 0 1 0 Totals 200 22-5110-135-30 17 24 61 FG%; .431FT%: .769. 3-point FG: 7-27 (Hodge 0-2, Melvin 1-4, Evtimov 1-2, O'Don- nell 1-4, Sherrill 2-7, Watkins 1-3, Atsur 1-4, Bennerman 0-1). Blocks: 0. Steals: 8 (Hodge, Melvin 2, Sherrill 4, Watkins). Turnovers: 19 (Hodge 6, Melvin 5, Evtimov 2, Sherrill 3, Watkins, Atsur, TEAM). Techni- cal fouls: none. MICHIGAN (68) FG FT REB MIN M-A M-A 0-T A F PTS Hunter 13 1-2 1-2 2-4 0 2 3 Sims 19 4-7 1-2 3-5 0 2 9 Abram 31 0-4 10-12 0-2 1 0 10 Horton 36 6-16 1-7 2-5 1 3 16 Robinson 31 4-7 1-3 1-6 4 3 10 Harris 26 4-8 6-6 1-4 0 3 14 Petway 18 0-2 0-0 0-2 0 2 0 Brown 3 0-2 0-0 1-1 0 0 0 Mathis 23 3-7 0-0 2-9 1 1 6 Totals 225 22-54 22-2913-3897 16 68 FG%:.40. FT%:.87.5.3-point FG: 2-17, .22.2 (Horton 1-7, Robinson 1-2, Abram 0-3, Harris 0-3, Sims 0-2). Bl)cks: 3 (Petway 2, , Mathis Steals: 9 (Harris 3, Horton 3, Robin- son 2, Abram). Turnovers: 15 (Abram 4, Robinson 3, Harris 2, Horton 2, Petway 2, Sims, Mathis). Technical fouls: none N.C. State..................... « 27 34 - 61 Michigan..........................33 35 - 68 At: Crisler Arena Attendance: 11,789 Down 57-50 with 2:20 remaining, N.C. State went to the fouling game, forcing Michigan to win the game on the free-throw line. The Wolverines got the job done - knocking down 11-of- 15 from the charity stripe in the last two minutes - but Michigan couldn't defend Julius Hodge. The N.C. State guard took over, put- ting his head down and making his way to the rim time after time. Hodge scored 10 of his game-high 25 points in the final 1:45 of the game. After two Dion Harris free throws pushed the Michigan lead to a seeming- ly-safe seven points (65-58), N.C. State closed to within four with 21 seconds left in the game on a Scooter Sherrill 3- pointer. But that was as close as the Wolfpack would get, as Lester Abram connected three times from the line to seal the Michigan win. "We work on free throws every day in practice," Harris said. "It's kind of natural. When I step up to the line, I'm confident. Think that's (true) for every- body - we're real confident at the free- throw line." While Daniel Horton and Harris led the Wolverines (4-0) with 16 and 14 points, respectively, forward J.C. Mathis was the emotional leader, pulling down nine rebounds and hustling all over the court. At one point in the second half, Mathis, who added six points, landed in the front row trying to save a deflected pass. "He came in tonight and played some great minutes for us," Michigan center Graham Brown said. "He plays like that in practice all the time, but he hasn't really had a chance to play like that in a game. This was a great game for him." Michigan opened up the game with a quick 7-0 run, but t ien allowed N.C. State to go on an 18-2 run of its own to take a 20-11 advantage 10 minutes into the first half. But the Wolverines clamped down on defense, allowing just three more Wolf- pack field goals for the rest of the half to go into the lockerroom up 33-27. CHRIS BURKE Goin' to work ichigan fans, meet the real J.C. athis. Ever since Mathis had transferred from Virginia to Michigan before last season, Michigan coach Tommy Amak- er and the rest of the Wolverines had preached how valuable Mathis would be to this team. After sitting out the year the NCAA requires for transfers, Mathis made a ho-hum debut in his first three games as a Wolverine, averaging four points and three rebounds. But last night, when Michigan need- ed him most, Mathis earned his reputa- tion as a hard-working, enthusiastic, tenacious basketball player. Mathis, who was named captain of the Wolver- ines for this season before ever playing a game, seemed like he was everywhere in his 23 minutes against North Caroli- na State, finishing with nine rebounds, six points, and an immeasurable impact on Michigan's victory. "He's an experienced guy who can get things done," Michigan forward Bernard Robinson said. "He showed that - you couldn't ask for it at a bet- ter time. He's big-time, and he showed that." Mathis is a posterboy for Amaker's defense-leads-to-offense scheme. Mathis will never be Michigan's first option on the offensive end, but when the Wolverines are desperate for energy in the defensive low post - like they were last night -then Mathis is as good of a choice as any. Last night, N.C. State was giving Michigan fits thanks to the Wolfpack's undersized, but quick, forwards. The Wolfpack were having success when their big men took Michigan centers Chris Hunter and Courtney Sims off the dribble, leading to matchup problems for the rest of the Wolverines. Enter Mathis. "I think more than anything else, he - gave us a toughness (and) a player with valuable experience out there," Amaker said. "I thought we are young, and we looked even younger at times going against (N.C. State forward Marcus) Melvin and (center Ilian) Evtimov. Those are experienced ballplayers, so with J.C. coming in and being able to - guard those guys was critical." Without question, Mathis had an advantage over the rest of the Wolver- ines thanks to the five times he had - faced N.C. State and its motion offense when he was playing for Virginia. But having knowledge and putting it to use are two entirely different things. Mathis proved last night that his experi- ence could be a huge boost for the Wolverines all season. "J.C. came in and played big," Michi- gan forward Brent Petway said. "He did.- everything we needed him to do - it's the best I've seen him play all year." "I guess it was my best game of the season,' Mathis said. "But I was fortu- nate - we have a very good frontcourt,,. it could've been anybody. Fortunately, it was me. " It was just one fundamental display after another from Mathis in the win. - "I thought J.C. Mathis' minutes were " critical," Amaker said. "He was really a terror on the backboards for us, and it - was really a shot in the arm." When he wasn't grabbing rebounds, he was maintaining his position so another Wolverine could. He was diving into the front row of the stands for a loose ball. He was cutting to the basket to receive a wide-open layup off a pass from Robinson. He was exactly what every Michi- gan coach and player has been saying he could be since he transferred from Virginia. And now everyone else knows it, too. Chris Burke can be reached af chrisbur@umich.edu. RYAN WEINER/Daily Michigan center Courtney Sims scored four of the Wolverines' first five points. N.C. State (3-1) opened up the sec- ond frame with four quick points, but struggled from the floor throughout, going almost 10 minutes without a field goal until Hodge broke the streak at the 4:49 mark. Hodge, who averaged 18.3 points per game heading in, surpassed that mark in garbage time, but could muster only 15 points in the first 38 minutes of the game -largely due to solid defensive efforts by Robinson and Harris. "I think it took a great team effort to slow him down and make him not that big of a factor during the important parts (of the game)," Robinson said. "He's gonna get his points, but definite- ly not to let him get them at the key points in the game was big for us." Even after the loss, Sherrill, who fin- ished with 14 points for the Wolfpack, still wasn't fully impressed with his opponents. "Give Michigan a lot of credit," Sher- rill said. 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