Power Rankings

Forget Princeton offense; 'Pack's success as easy as shooting, defense

By Stewart Mandel, SI.com

Ilian Evtimov and the Wolfpack cleared the way for Stanford to take over at No. 1. AP

You can attempt to dissect its Princeton-style offense until you're blue in the face. It's really not necessary.

The reason N.C. State was able to hand Duke its first loss in 18 games Sunday is simple: The Wolfpack can shoot and play defense. And when you can do that, it's look out, NCAA tournament.

In scoring its biggest victory in years against the Blue Devils, N.C. State sent a stunning wake-up call to pollsters who, inexplicably, have ignored the impressive Wolfpack all season. It's easy to see how they snuck up on people: For the most part, these are the same core of players -- Julius Hodge, Scooter Sherrill, Marcus Melvin, Ilian Evtimov -- who have been stuck in the ACC's second echelon for what seems like eons. They also had a fairly undistinguished non-conference schedule.

But something changed once since ACC play began. In by far the nation's toughest conference, N.C. State is 9-2, just a game behind Duke and four wins above any other team. The 'Pack have won five straight ACC games for the first time in 30 years. 

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At any given point, the Wolfpack can put five players on the floor who can hit from 3-point land, including forwards Melvin and Levi Watkins, which makes them perfectly suited for the Princeton attack. They're also among the nation's top free-throw shooting teams.

Defensively, however, is where N.C. State has made its mark. Opponents are shooting just 29.4 percent from 3, and averaging 67.3 points. Against the Blue Devils, State made 52 percent of its shots, including 6-of-12 3-pointers, while holding Duke to 41.1 percent.

It still may be asking too much for the Wolfpack to catch Duke standings -- not only would the Blue Devils need to stumble once more, but N.C. State, having played three of its last four at home, has tough road games remaining at Georgia Tech and Wake Forest.

Nevertheless, this is not a team that can be taken lightly anymore. Not as long as they're shooting and playing defense.

NCAA Basketball Power Rankings Rank LW Team 1 2 Stanford Cardinal (21-0) To many, it's a coronation that's long overdue. The Cardinal just keep taking care of business, most recently in Saturday's tough game at rival Cal, where Rob Little and Josh Childress absolutely stifled Cal star Leon Powe. This week: Thu. at USC, Sat. at UCLA. 2 3 St. Joe's Hawks (22-0) It's gotten to the point where the Hawks can beat a decent Rhode Island team by 14, yet draw the ire of Phil Martelli for playing one of their worst games of the season. They played great defense against the Rams, but were outrebounded 46-24. This week: Wed. at Fordham, Sat. vs. Temple. 3 6 Mississippi St. Bulldogs (21-1) The Bulldogs continue to be unfazed on the road. Timmy Bowers hit a last-second 3-pointer to force overtime at South Carolina, where they won 79-75. MSU followed it up by shooting 58 percent in its first win at Arkansas since 1972. This week: Sat. vs. Alabama. 4 1 Duke Blue Devils (21-2) For all of J.J. Redick and Chris Duhon's mastery, Sunday's loss showed how critical Shelden Williams is. Not only was he held to four points, but foul trouble rendered him a non-factor on defense, where Shavlik Randolph was of no help. This week: Wed. at Wake Forest, Sun. vs. Maryland. 5 7 Oklahoma St. Cowboys (19-2) Granted, it wasn't Kansas' finest team, but you had to be impressed by the way OSU basically ran the Jayhawks out of the gym. John Lucas III helped set a frenetic pace, in which the Cowboys raced to a 49-26 lead and 80-60 win. This week: Mon. at Oklahoma, Sun. vs. Nebraska. 6 4 Pittsburgh Panthers (22-2) Big man Mark McCarroll was the revelation of Sunday's victory over UConn, scoring 15 points and helping contain Emeka Okafor. The Panthers rebounded well from their double overtime loss to Seton Hall, in which they committed 24 turnovers. This week: Sat. at West Virginia. 7 12 North Carolina St. Wolfpack (16-5) Does this mean Herb Sendek is finally off the hot seat? Looking back, you can see how the Wolfpack got where they are today, going from 5-11 in the ACC three years ago to 9-7 each of the past two seasons, but it hasn't been the smoothest ride. This week: Wed. at Clemson, Sun. vs. Washington. 8 10 Gonzaga Bulldogs (21-2) Two years ago, Gonzaga cracked the top 10 but garnered just a six seed from the selection committee. This year should be different thanks to wins over Maryland, Missouri and Georgia and close losses to none other than Stanford and St. Joe's. This week: Wed. vs. Portland, Sat. at Tulsa. 9 -- Providence Friars (17-5) Don't look now, but the Friars have one of the best records in the country -- 8-3 -- against opponents ranked in the RPI top 50. They may not have been marquee events, but last week's road wins at Villanova and B.C. were no small feat. This week: Sat. vs. Miami. 10 -- LSU Tigers (17-4) The Bayou Bengals are on fire. Behind perpetually underrated big man Jaime Lloreda and freshman sensations Brandon Bass and Tack Minor, the Tigers have won five straight SEC games, including at Alabama and, most recently, Florida. This week: Wed. vs. Auburn, Sat. at Vanderbilt. 11 8 Texas Longhorns (17-4) The 'Horns suffered their first road loss of the season at Iowa State in strange fashion. Not only did Brian Boddicker, an 81 percent free-throw shooter, miss two last-second free throws, but Texas had two potential tip-ins and missed both. This week: Wed. vs. Texas A&M, Sat. at Oklahoma. 12 5 Connecticut Huskies (19-5) It's not exactly the sign of a champion to drop consecutive conference road games in February. Losing at Pittsburgh is understandable, no one wins there, but the Notre Dame game was puzzling as the Huskies actually played fairly well. This week: Wed. vs. Miami, Sat. vs. Notre Dame. 13 9 Kentucky Wildcats (17-4) It's puzzling how the Wildcats have been so tough against their most formidable opponents yet gone flat in two matchups with beatable Georgia. One game after torching Alabama, Antwain Barbour went back into hiding with two points in 25 minutes. This week: Wed. vs. Arkansas, Sat. at Auburn. 14 -- Wake Forest Demon Deacons (15-6) After falling short in one close game after another against elite opponents, Wake needed a game like Sunday's 91-85 win over Cincinnati. Chris Paul exploded for 30 points on 10-of-14 shooting, and the Deacons made 10 of 15 three-point attempts. This week: Wed. vs. Duke, Sun. at Georgia Tech. 15 15 Southern Illinois Salukis (20-2) Darren Brooks shoots just 28.9 percent behind the arc, but he was money at the most crucial moment Saturday, hitting a trey with just over two minutes left after Southwest Missouri State had gone up by one to send the Salukis to a 59-58 victory. This week: Wed. vs. Drake, Sat. at Southwest Missouri St. 16 11 Louisville Cardinals (17-4) The Cardinals are hanging on for dear life, having lost three of four since starting 16-1 and dropping out of first. Francisco Garcia and Taquan Dean continue to be hindered by injuries, shooting a combined 6-of-21 in last week's loss at Charlotte. This week: Tue. at TCU, Sat. at Cincinnati.

Dropped out: Kansas, North Carolina, Georgia Tech.