VERY NICE and BIG win tonight as the Wolfpack keeps scraping back to ‘par’ after the UNCO and ECU losses. You can see the importance of tonight’s game by clicking here.
* NC State wins three in a row and is now 2-0 against the Big East for the season.
* State scores over 80 points for the first time all season! as Costner, Fells, Grant and Hickson all hit double figures (and Degand had 9 before getting injured)
* Gavin Grant steps up and proves his MVP status as a senior. Grant single-handedly took over on key offensive possessions in the last three minutes of the game. Grant ended the game with 15 points.
* Of course, nothing good happens to the Wolfpack without something bad happening – starting point guard, Farnold Degand sprained his left knee in the second half and will undergo an MRI on Monday to assess the damage.
* Hopefully the Wolfpack realize that they won this game as much for with defensive effort and overall focus and energy.
* That was best game of the season for Wolfpack backcourt – particularly the point guards. Degand and Javier Gonzalez combined to manage the game effectively while contributing offensively with a combined 15 points.
* With Degand’s injury, the fans that wanted to see Marques Johnson might see more of him than they initially expected.
* State shot 66.7% from the three-point-line because of shot selectivity – State only shot 9 three-pointers all night.
* I will go out on a ‘limb’ and predict that NC State won’t lose any games this year where we shoot 67%+ from the three-point-line and get 15 points from the point guard position.
* The N&O’s ACCNow Blog had some good halftime comments here. They have since updated the comments after the game.
* State travels to New Jersey for a game with the Big East’s Seton Hall on Thursday night at 7:30pm. Seton Hall is hovering around #50 in the RPI and will provide State a fantastic opportunity to “trade-in” that UNO or ECU loss.
* At the beginning of the season the Seton Hall game was not officially on any television schedule. GoPack indicates the game will be on ESPNU; but, you know how many mistakes GoPack makes. We’ll check on the television situation for you.
