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NC State Basketball

Wofford Irks Out Upset Over State 55-54

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NC State’s Trevor Lacey hit a game winner with .01 on the clock. The replay confirmed it. The only problem was that the replay was wrong. FoxSport’s clock on-screen was a frame behind. Realtime told a different story. After NC State celebrated, the refs went back to the monitor to see that the ball was on Lacey’s fingertips when the clock hit 0. Another chapter to add the the “You’ll never see that again as long as you live” type back luck that the Wolfpack has endured over the past 25 years. Now, it’s been happening less and less lately, but tonight was a simple reminder that the players have changed, the coaches rotate, but you’re still watching NC State basketball.

At this point your probably wondering why State was even in a close game with Wofford. We’ll get into that in a second. First, I think it’s important to realize that this, while still a loss, is not a loss that is going to really hurt the Pack. This Wofford team won the Southern Conference Tournament last season and returned all of their starters. This is a veteran group that is going to be right up there again and should have a pretty healthy RPI this season.

Now, let’s get into tonight game.

State’s bigs were just bad tonight. They combined for only 11 points in this one and although they finished tied on the glass with 33 boards, they were beat on the offensive glass 9-3. That was huge. State had very few second chance points and just seemed timid against the Wofford bigs. Kyle Washington couldn’t hit a shot, Beejay got his blocks and rebounds but that was it, and Freeman just was plain off tonight.

Turnovers. State only coughed it up 11 times, but that’s not very good when you only turn the other team over 4 times. Now, Wofford is a veteran team and a calling card to most veteran teams is the ability to protect the basketball, but the Wolfpack is long, strong and should have dominated Wofford on the defensive end.

– Speaking of defense. The Pack was decent at best in this game. They were pretty good on the ball, but their help side was weak and they allowed far too many easy baskets in the paint. Again, A lot of this had to do with the bigs just not showing up tonight.

– No reinforcements. I’m not sure what happened tonight, but Gottfried just did not seem to want to explore his bench when his starters weren’t getting it done. Caleb Martin, who scored a career high 17 last time out only logged 11 minutes and was never allowed to get into any sort of rhythm. We didn’t even see any of Cody Martin in this game.

Karl Hess. Who let this guy back on the floor? Hess was banned from reffing State games after throwing out Googs and Corch at a game a few years back. All of the sudden he’s back and within 5 minutes of play he gives Gottfried a technical foul for what just seemed like normal coach/ref banter after a questionable call. Quick-Whistle Karl obviously was trying to establish some sort of dominance again and put the Pack in the hole early. Those 2 free points that Wofford got ended up costing State this game.

– Now for the bright spots. Trevor Lacey was once again awesome down the stretch. He finished with 18 points and hit a huge jumper to put State in the lead after Wofford took the lead in the last minute then the would-have-been game winner. The kid has ice in his veins and you just wish he’d have taken over sooner. This kind of is reminding me of Warren last year. During the beginning of the season he tried to play as unselfishly as possible until he realized that he needed to be the offense for this team to win. Lacey is in the same situation. Sure, he has other weapons but he needs to realize that he is option A-1 and should be getting up 16-20 shots per game.

– I also thought Cat improved in this game. He still had a few moments of indecision which resulted in poor shots, but overall he played better basketball. He is trying as hard as he can to pick his spots and to run the offense and I think  you’re seeing that. Remember, he’s still only a sophomore in the beginning of his second season. I just think people, us included, thought he’d be coming in here college ready. Athletically he was ready, but he’s learning how to play PG at this level and there’s certainly been a learning curve there. His line wasn’t great, but it wasn’t bad either. 10 points, 3 assists and 5 boards…all with no turnovers.
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State better shake this one off because Tennessee is up next this Wed. at the PNC.

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nedmorlef
nedmorlef
9 years ago

I have issue with biased refs on the court. Especially when the bias is open and well known. Thye ‘re not hurting NCSU as much as they’re hurting the game, the league and the fans. This is as inexcusable as the loss.

Wolfer96
Wolfer96
9 years ago

I’ve said it before and my opinion remains unchanged… this is a very average team. There are some above average players (e.g. Trevor Lacey) but the team as a whole is average. We will lose more games this season than fans would like. As great of a job as Gott has done on the recruiting trail since he joined the Wolf Pack, where is falls short is evaluating key skills.  Looking at Barber for instance, he is as oft mentioned quick like a cat. However, he has limited court vision and decision making skills. Kind of the opposite of Tyler… Read more »

NC State Basketball

An NC State Win Over Marquette in the Sweet 16 Would Be…

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Awesome. Obviously.

#11 seed NC State will play #2 seed Marquette tomorrow night in the Sweet 16. What would a win mean for the Wolfpack? Many things, but here’s just a few:

It would give NC State 25 wins on the year (25-14), which would be the most wins since 1982-83, when the Wolfpack went 26-10, winning the National Championship.

It would mark the 12th time in school history that NC State has won 25+ games in a single season.

1982-83 – 26-10 

1973-74 – 30-1 

1972-73 – 27-0 

1954-55 – 28-4 

1953-54 – 26-7

1952-53 – 26-6 

1950-51 – 30-7 

1949-50 – 27-6 

1948-49 – 25-8 

1947-48 – 29-3

1946-47- 26-5

It would be the 7th time NC State has advanced to the Elite 8 in the NCAA Tournament.

1950

1951

1974

1983

1985

1986

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NC State Basketball

NC State has Won 5 ACC Championships this Year

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NC State has won 5 ACC Championships this year, which is the most of any athletic program in the conference this year.

The Wolfpack has won ACC Titles in Women’s Cross Country, Men’s Swimming & Diving, Wrestling, Men’s Basketball and Gymnastics.

The last time NC State won 5 ACC Championships in one year was 1979-80.

As far as I can tell, here’s a look at the Wolfpack Conference Titles from 1979-80:

Football
Women’s Basketball
Women’s Cross Country
Men’s Swimming & Diving
Men’s Tennis

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NC State Basketball

NC State is 1 of 4 Schools to Have Both Men & Women’s Basketball Teams in Sweet 16

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NC State is 1 of 4 schools to have their Men and Women’s Basketball teams BOTH advance to the Sweet 16, along with Duke, Gonzaga and UCONN.

NC State and Duke are the only two schools in the country to send both Basketball teams to the Sweet 16, and also send the Football team to a bowl game.

This marks only the third time in school history that BOTH teams made the Sweet 16.

Years NC State’s Men & Women’s Teams Made the Sweet 16

1985
1989
2024

Despite the fact that the Men’s team has made the Elite 8 six times (1950, 1951, 1974, 1983, 1985, 1986), and the Women have made it 2 times (1998 & 2022), in the three occasions they both went to the Sweet 16 in the same year, neither team advanced to the Elite 8.

In 2024, Why Not Us?

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NC State Basketball

#3 seed NC State Holds on Against #6 Seed Tennessee, Defeating the Vols 79-72 to Advance to the Sweet 16

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#3 seed NC State held on last night, defeating #6 seed Tennessee 79-72 in Reynolds Coliseum to advance to the Sweet 16 for the 5th time in the last 6 tournaments.

The Wolfpack led by only 1 after the 1st Quarter, but they looked like they had things under control at halftime, leading by 18 points.

At one point, NC State led by as much as 20 points in the 3rd Quarter, but the Lady Volunteers weren’t about to give up.

With 4:19 left in the 4th, Tennessee cut the lead to 2 points, but NC State might have bent, but they wouldn’t break.

Junior Guard Aziaha James led the way with 22 points and 7 assists, which were both team highs. She scored 7 points in the final 3.5 minutes, helping to squash tue Last Vols’ comeback attempt.

Junior Guard Saniya Rivers had 20 points (6-14 FG) and 6 boards.

Freshman Zoe Brooks was clutch off the bench, chipping in 16 points and 6 boards.

This marks the 16th time the NC State Women’s Basketball team has advanced to the Sweet 16.

The Wolfpack will play #2 seed Stanford on Friday night at 7:30pm on ESPN in Portland.

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