Julius Hodge jokingly compared himself to Terrell Owens and then declared he should be the Heisman Trophy winner of college basketball.
Just being himself was good enough.
Hodge scored 22 points to offset some horrible shooting by his teammates, leading No. 16 North Carolina State to a 60-53 victory over Purdue on Monday in the opening game of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
Playing in his 100th career game, Hodge added eight rebounds and five assists. Ilian Evtimov scored 12 points, and Cameron Bennerman had 11 for N.C. State.
Hodge kept sharing the ball even though the rest of the team struggled. Then, when Purdue did get close, he took it upon himself to score.
“He’s a big-time player,” Boilermakers guard Brandon McKnight said. “He might be national player of the year. Whenever they needed a big basket or anything, it seemed like he came through for them.”
The Wolfpack (5-0) won its first four games by an average of 37 points but never could pull away from the Boilermakers (1-3), off to their worst start since 1962-63 in coach Gene Keady’s farewell season.
Carl Landry led Purdue with 18 points. McKnight added 14. “We’re not going to throw in the towel,” McKnight said. “I don’t care if we get to 1-13.”
