As Lionel Hutz would say, there are records [smiles while nodding] and there are records [shakes head, makes frowny face]. Richard Howell is on pace for one of the latter, unfortunately, since he cannot seem to avoid fouling everyone. As Stephen Schramm points out, Howell has 73 fouls this season, which means Ilian Evtimov's single-season NC State record of 110 is in jeopardy.
Not surprisingly, Mark Gottfried is trying to get him to change his ways, though that hasn't quite worked out yet.
"It’s something that we talk to Richard about continually," N.C. State coach Mark Gottfried said Monday. "He’s got to stay aggressive, but at the same time eliminate the fouls that are inconsequential. Sometimes he’ll get one or two where he’s reaching for a ball. Those are the ones that catch up to him."
Howell's foul rate this season (5.1 fouls per 40 minutes) actually isn't much different from his foul rates during his first two seasons (4.6/40 last year, 5.2/40 in 2010), but obviously his bigger role on the team makes it a far more noticeable problem in 2012.