NC State 90 Wake Forest 69

10-11 Basketball88

Lots of great conversation from today’s game in this blog entry and also on our message boards.  NC State NEVER TRAILED and led a Big Four rival by 29 points with two minutes to go in the game when the Pack was up 90-61.  That is just fantastic.

Tracy Smith scored 23 points to help North Carolina State beat Wake Forest 90-69 on Saturday in the Atlantic Coast Conference opener for both teams.

Freshman C.J. Leslie added 19 points as the Wolfpack (11-4, 1-0) won an ACC opener for the first time under fifth-year coach Sidney Lowe. N.C. State scored the game’s first six points and led the entire day, dominating in the paint and on the boards to win its sixth straight against the Demon Deacons (7-9, 0-1) in Raleigh.

N.C. State led by just four early in the second half, but ran off nine straight points to push the margin back up to double figures. The lead only grew from there, reaching as many as 29 points late in an impressive second-half performance for a team waiting for its breakout year in the league.

You can click here for ESPN’s comprehensive GameCenter. 

The following stat lines tell the story of the individual players that elevated statistically, but every Wolfpacker made key contributions in their own roles & responsibilities on the floor: Tracy Smith – 23 points, 11 rebounds; CJ Williams – 16 points, 7 rebounds; CJ Leslie – 19 points, 6 rebounds.

 

Sidney & Wake Forest

One of my favorite things about Sidney Lowe has been his ability to consistently beat Wake Forest.  I know that sounds somewhat lame – especially to any Wolfpackers over the age of 40 – but it needs to be said after Les Robinson went 2-10 against Dave Odom  and Herb Sendek went 9-15 against the Demon Deacons.

Sidney Lowe has never lost to Wake Forest in the RBC Center and is now 6-3 overall vs the Deacs.  (The Wolfpack’s last loss to Wake Forest in the RBC Center came in 2005.)

NC State has now won 11 of the last 18 games against Wake, including the last six games played in Raleigh. NC State is 8-4 all-time against Wake Forest at the RBC Center.

Opening Nuggets

NC State is now 32-26 all-time in ACC openers, including a mark of 18-8 when opening conference play at home. This was the first time that NC State opened the conference season at home under Sidney Lowe, and it was Coach Lowe’s first opening game win while at NC State.

 

N&O

The N&O has some observations from Saturday available by clicking here and their photo gallery is available by clicking here.

One thing Tracy Smith could work on while he was rehabbing his left knee was his jump shot. Smith showed more range with his face-up game and more confidence in his jump shot against Wake.

He hit a catch-and-shoot baseline jumper from about 12 feet at 6:57 in the second half that was previously not part of his offensive arsenal.

"When I couldn’t practice, I worked on my shot," said Smith, who missed 10 games with a knee injury.

About StateFans

'StateFansNation' is the shared profile used by any/all of the dozen or so authors that contribute to the blog. You may not always agree with us, but you will have little doubt about where we stand on most issues. Please follow us on Twitter and FaceBook

10-11 Basketball

88 Responses to NC State 90 Wake Forest 69

  1. Clarksa 01/08/2011 at 11:30 PM #

    I just posted this on the live blog post…but everyone should listen to the Wake coach rip his own team in the post game interview… http://vmedia.rivals.com/uploads/899/1044882.mp3

  2. StateFans 01/08/2011 at 11:39 PM #

    Thanks for sharing!

  3. tvp1 01/08/2011 at 11:59 PM #

    Sid’s big smile and hug of CJW at the end of the game was a great moment. When I see those kinds of things, it really makes me hope that Sid can make it happen here.

  4. BureauOfMines 01/09/2011 at 12:18 AM #

    Couldn’t ask for a better ACC opener.

  5. tractor57 01/09/2011 at 12:29 AM #

    Great win. Great because State was expected to win but not this big and because Lowe kept the team focused. One down …

  6. Archdale Pack Fan 01/09/2011 at 12:57 AM #

    Actually State opened at home last year and lost to UVa. Great win today, hopefully a sign of things to come. Next week should tell us a lot. Go Pack!!!

  7. Lock 01/09/2011 at 1:02 AM #

    We finally showed a little killer instinct this game. At one point one of the announcers said something along the lines of this was the kind of game State fans had been waiting to see from Sid and the team. He couldn’t have been more spot-on. A little hope for the year’s been salvaged.

  8. rtpack24 01/09/2011 at 1:29 AM #

    I was impressed with today’s effort and all round game played by Pack. Tracy is so fluid it is easy to not realize how really good he is in every part of the game including leadership.

  9. CylonWolf 01/09/2011 at 2:53 AM #

    ^^^No, we opened at Wake Forest last year in December. I was there…it sucked. Tracy Smith fouled out of the game and criticized the refs after, leading to him being suspended for the Arizona game. The only redeeming part of it was the bakery stand giving away left over food after the game (Things you will never see happen in the RBC Center).

  10. Wufpacker 01/09/2011 at 3:19 AM #

    Winning definitely has a tendency to cure a lot of ills. As I said on the game thread from the forums, I’ve been very tough on Sid lately with regard to his teams not being able to play solid, fundamentally sound TEAM basketball (especially defense, rebounding and taking care of the ball/minimizing TO’s). Given some of the efforts we’ve seen this season before today, I’ve also given voice to my pessimism that the trend seemed to be continuing with this year’s squad.

    While I’m not quite ready to eat crow just yet, I have to be fair and give credit where credit is due. The team played very well today. They executed well, rebounded tremendously well, and played as a team. Were it not for a cold shooting day they could have won this game by 40 and topped the century mark.

    As someone had said on one of the threads yesterday or the day before, Sid and the team has 16 more chances to prove the program is headed in the right direction. They made the most of the first of those 16 chances today.

    Fantastic game all around. Congrats, Pack.

    Now, go to Chestnut Hill on Tuesday and squash BC like the cockroaches they are.

  11. tuckerdorm1983 01/09/2011 at 7:54 AM #

    hmmm….. Wake is weak. Very weak. The true test will be against BC a pretty good club on the road.

  12. 87stategrad 01/09/2011 at 8:20 AM #

    CJ Williams is a spark plug. If you watch the bench, he is always the first one to cheer and encourage the team. He has the ability to interject energy at the right time. Lots of fun to watch. Glad he had a good game.

  13. ncsumi 01/09/2011 at 9:44 AM #

    Great game by the Pack. I do not recall getting pissed off about effort once. From the RBC rafters (and I forgot my glasses), it seemed that WF runs were due to TOs and/or the defensive prowess of our PGs. But those mistakes did not seem to be rooted in effort. We pushed thru and overcame.

    The Leslie I have seen the last two games is much more mature. He is making a concerted effort to stay within the scheme and fill his role as a banger. He is distributing his rebounds to the PGs instead of driving the court. Twice he had his man in isolation and could have (and probably should have) taken him to the hole. However he passed the ball back out. Likely, that took a herculean amount of self-discipline for him. His defensive effort looks much better as well.

    Yeah, WF sux, but at least we won playing the way we are supposed to play rather than letting them out-suck us. My fantasy gets to live till at least Tuesday night.

  14. 4in12 01/09/2011 at 11:03 AM #

    Great game from CJ Williams. My impression of him has been that when he’s good he’s very good but he disappears a lot. Let’s hope we see a lot less of the disappearing act.

  15. codebrown 01/09/2011 at 11:22 AM #

    championship!

  16. wufpup76 01/09/2011 at 12:00 PM #

    I’m glad the author pointed out that factoid about Sidney vs. Wake Forest – I hate those SOB’s and I luv that Sidney has been able to whip them.

    It’s pretty clear that nearly all / most of us want Sidney to succeed – it would be a great thing. Yesterday’s effort and showing was very encouraging. But don’t get too high, and don’t get too low.

    I think the following is a good quote to sum up yesterday’s win:

    “Yeah, WF sux, but at least we won playing the way we are supposed to play rather than letting them out-suck us.”

    ^That’s the key – we won a game playing OUR game, playing within ourselves – everyone playing hard and together and with great effort. AGGRESSIVE! I can’t state it enough – play with (smart) aggression and confidence and good things can happen. The attack mentality is always better.

    As has been stated many times but certainly bares repeating: CJ Williams was just fantastic in the second half yesterday. If you get a chance, do yourself a favor and re-watch and focus on CJW. I’ve never seen someone move better and set things up WITHOUT the ball. Movement is so key on the offensive end; not only that – but our screens seemed much better yesterday as we were able to run a lot of pick plays. That may have something to do with the competition – but still. It’s the simple things that get it done.

  17. RickJ 01/09/2011 at 12:34 PM #

    “One of my favorite things about Sidney Lowe has been his ability to consistently beat Wake Forest. I know that sounds somewhat lame –”

    Wake Forest has enjoyed their “golden years” of basketball in the last 20 years. I do not believe it is coincidence that this period coincides with our lack of success during the same period. I have a few friends that are passionate Wake fans and we have discussed this many times. Dave Odom told one of them that it would be very unlikely for both Wake & State to have great success at the same time. Of course, it is easy for both to be bad at the same time.

  18. JeremyH 01/09/2011 at 12:48 PM #

    A really good point guard can make a coach look like a genius. Think Derrick Rose, think Ty Lawson. I think Lowe may have finally found his own lil’ genius maker. I’m glad we still have Javi though to anchor things, and there will be plenty of minutes to dole out in the coming rough-and-tumble ACC matchups.

    Still, yesterday was all about size advantage and confidence-building. I am tempted to think CJ Williams will not have other games like this one, but given the attention that needs to be given to Smith, Howell, Wood, Brown, Harrow, etc.. he can sneak up on teams and really play an important role. I would like to see him become a defensive stopper and an emotional leader on this team.

    Like the announcer of this past game, I do like Lo Brown’s cool demeaner, picking his spots, I think he understands his offense should emerge from running the team offense. I would like to see him break out a little bit though at some point.

    So we have either played teams in the top 50 or in the 200 range of the RPI? That’s weird, hopefully we can spread out that top 50 OOC road games more evenly next time?

  19. Phang 01/09/2011 at 12:54 PM #

    IMHO, with the recruiting successes Sid earned another year even if we don’t make the NCAA this year (but I believe we will).

    Most of you don’t remember the Jimmy V era. Jimmy V loved to win. But the sole purpose of the regular season for Jimmy V was to prepare for the tournament. He spent a lot of time during the regular season trying combinations and experimenting.

    If you’ll remember last year, we looked pretty pitiful, UNTIL THE ACC TOURNAMENT. Then you saw all of the players step up.

    This year has looked a little shaky, partly due to the loss of Tracy, but yesterday you saw the team that Sid is working toward.

    Granted Wake is Weak, and I don’t expect the team will look this good every game, but at the end of the season, I believe we’ll be contending for the ACC championship.

  20. fullmoon1 01/09/2011 at 1:21 PM #

    I’ll take that win and smile , Wake is weak but how many times in teh past under other coaches has an inferior wake team stole our milk money? Thats how you open the season. More of that please Sid.

  21. Archdale Pack Fan 01/09/2011 at 1:43 PM #

    You’re right CylonWolf. Now I remember the Wake game in December when Tracy told the truth about the refs and was suspended for the Arizona game.

  22. hball57 01/09/2011 at 1:45 PM #

    You can say “Wake is weak” but Wake was the only team we played, so it was the only team we could beat. i think we saw our depth and athleticism, something we haven’t showed in the past few years. I don’t see many teams with the talent we have, and one thing that is never mentioned is Sidney is building a team that can play both fast and slow, which is a key to tournament basketball. We all want things immediately, but that is not how things happen. Iam not impressed with BC. Let’s hope i am right.

  23. Wolfy__79 01/09/2011 at 1:57 PM #

    Phang, i totally agree on all parts. Sidney isn’t breaking any records with his timing but the flashes of brilliance with some of our teams efforts have been a good indicator of how we want to play. “i like it alot!”

    Sidney is always mixin and matchin with his lineup. cjw finally accepting he’s a role player has shown up consistently all season and yesterday being his best performance of his career. Sidney has made some really hard runs in the ACC tournament so far. Now, the load doesn’t reside solely on Tracy and Javi. With Sidney continually tinkering with the lineup, it allows the whole team to contribute and grow… if this works, alongside with his recruiting!! GOOD THINGS TO COME. (:IMHO:)

    Wake is weak, i’ve already had that pointed out by a few hole’roy fans. that’s what we should do against weaker opponents. the obvious weak area for them was there team defense. this is what i will pay attention to in the next two to see what we are building towards for duke. i like the defensive adjustments and efforts i see us coming out of the locker room with.. rebounding has been a point of emphasis for the last few contests.. WAY TO GO PACK!

  24. Wolfy__79 01/09/2011 at 2:01 PM #

    ^^ agreed hball. bc isn’t that good and all of our guys can pick up the tempo and play inside out! he’s brought everyone along at the same time! it looks good!

    one thing i’ve noticed is that tracy is playing with a little chip on his shoulder!! this is great, his leadership on the floor is exactly what we’ve needed for the past couple of years… maybe even back to Hodge 🙂 !

  25. Wolfy__79 01/09/2011 at 2:11 PM #

    I certainly won’t get too far ahead of myself, but this “down year” for the ACC is the perfect oppurtunity & timing for Sidney Lowe to regain a power program in the ACC amongst Duke and the other guys 🙂

1 2 3 4

Leave a Reply