GREENSBORO -- Winners of four of the past five after Thursday’s first-round upset of Clemson, N.C. State may be playing its best basketball of the season. Not coincidentally, so is forward Richard Howell.
Howell had 11 rebounds, one short of his career high, and nine points in the 59-57 win while helping Tracy Smith defend Clemson star Trevor Booker as the 11th-seeded Pack pulled off the third upset of the ACC tournament’s opening day.
It’s shaping up to be a pleasant ending to an unpleasant season for the highly touted freshman, whose injury problems are hard to comprehend. He injured his knee before the season, missing the first four games after undergoing surgery, but that wasn’t the end.
Howell played only three minutes against Virginia Tech last month after cutting his leg on his way to the floor for warm-ups, a wound that required stitches, then sprained his thumb in practice and missed the loss to Maryland two games later.
Thursday, he cracked the 20-minute mark for only the fourth time this season in the second-best statistical game of his career. The difference?
“It’s definitely my health,” Howell said. “Here and there, I’ve been hurt a lot. Now, I’m definitely bringing all my pieces together. Coach (Sidney) Lowe is putting me in a great position to help win basketball games.”
Of course, he didn’t emerge entirely unscathed. Howell landed hard on his left hip after he was fouled in the air by Booker, leaving the game briefly. It didn’t slow him much.
The best game of Howell’s career so far also came against Clemson. He had 13 points and 12 rebounds that night, but this one had a different ending.
In the 73-70 loss to the Tigers on Jan. 16, Howell had a potentially game-winning shot stuffed by the Tigers’ Jerai Grant. Thursday, Howell got his revenge. With two minutes and change to go, Howell tipped in a Javi Gonzalez miss to keep the Wolfpack’s lead at eight, 57-49 -- one of the game’s key plays.
And as much as he contributed at that end of the floor, he had a far bigger impact at the other end.
“On the defensive end tonight against Trevor Booker, he played really well,” State forward Dennis Horner said. “He didn’t give up any space against him and he didn’t back down.”
Neither did the Wolfpack, who are playing on when two of their in-state rivals are not. If they want to keep going, they’ll need another big game from Howell against a Florida State team that doesn’t lack for size.
Luke has worked for The N&O since 2000. He covered the Carolina Hurricanes and the NHL before becoming a sports columnist in August 2008. A native of Evanston, Ill., he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania. He can be reached at 829-8947 or 
