Pack Wins In Lowe-vertime: NCSU 84 – Miami 81

08-09 Basketball General186

UPDATE: 850 The Buzz has put post-game interviews online.

Julius Mays sank a three-pointer from the top of the key with 2.8 ticks left on the clock to give NC State a three point win in OT.  Sidney Lowe moved to 5-0 in overtime games, and he did so with a combination of solid coaching moves, tenacity by his team on the floor and some good luck at key moments down the stretch of the extra period.

1 2 OT T
Miami Hurricanes 25 45 11 81
NCSU Wolfpack 39 31 14 84

Courtney Fells had 24 points to lead the Wolfpack, who blew a 19-point lead early in the second half and a pair of leads late in regulation and in overtime before Mays shot sealed the win for the Pack. Brandon Costner added 21 points and Ben McCauley had 12.

Your post-game thoughts here.

ht: “russelbuzz” of 850 The Buzz’s Blog for “Lowe-vertime” phrase.  We like it.
08-09 Basketball General

186 Responses to Pack Wins In Lowe-vertime: NCSU 84 – Miami 81

  1. coachkoh 01/27/2009 at 10:04 PM #

    Wow hairy but will take a W . Had to listen to Gary Hahn on radio he actually said “This is ACC basketball at it’s best” Sweet Jesus say it ain’t so!

  2. ErB 01/27/2009 at 10:05 PM #

    Scott Wood picked a great game for a visit!

  3. txpack 01/27/2009 at 10:06 PM #

    Anybody notice the box score? We were out rebounded by 17 (26 – 41), and 3 – 15 on the offensive glass. Like the big lin-up? It is your call.

  4. SouthernWolf 01/27/2009 at 10:07 PM #

    That is Right On BSIE80 we are the WOLFPack Nation, never give up hope…never ever ever. That is what we are here to do, cheer on and support our team and dream for the best. Well we got a pretty darn good game tonight, we were suppose to lose but hell no we won one on a last second NBA three by a true fresh (b/c our starting point guard and leading scorer were both fouled out) That is stepping up not quitting and delivering a great product for ESPN and LOYAL Statefans!!!!

    Why is Smith good? Well, first of all, check his stats. The kid scores when he is in the game, even if it is not pretty. Secondly, he shows a lot of grit and determination and never gives up on missed shots, etc. Is he NBA lottery material right now? No. But is he a decent blue-collar type not afraid to get it done in the paint? Yes.
    -Alpha

  5. wolfpackbaby 01/27/2009 at 10:08 PM #

    Alpha- I agree completely. Sometimes the effort has been lackluster at best. One thing to point out – I dont have the stats on this but what were Dean and Coach K’s respective records in their first 3 years?

    On a side note, Sid still has plenty of Herbs players that may not fit perfectly into his scheme. Lets get over a full recruiting cycle too. Hopefully i’ll begin to comment on here more often. After checking the website multiple times a day since the “Calipari” days ive truly enjoyed reading this blog!

  6. edog05 01/27/2009 at 10:08 PM #

    So will someone tell me why Tracy Smith is so friggin great? Every time he gets the ball on offense he backs the defender down and spins into that player OR the double team and throws it awkwardly off the backward or gets blocked. He needs to go to big man camp and develop a hook shot or learn how to pass out of it. I do believe if he learns to pass it will spread the floor and get some open shots for our shooters(whoever they are) and/or cutters to the basket.

    And where did Fells come from? Did he finally pay off his bookie?

  7. Dr. BadgerPack 01/27/2009 at 10:09 PM #

    The big lineup is good to an extent. A team like Miami, that doesn’t press, well, it can be effective. Against superior pressure teams, it will be exploited. I think this lineup could be used against Virginia, GT, Miami (obviously) and to a lesser extent Maryland and BC. The former because the guards are slower, the latter because they really only have 1 superior guard.

    On another note… I think Horner may have usurped some of Smith’s minutes in the latter part of the game to prevent Miami from employing a junk defense on Fells. They liked the zone. With 1 hot shooter in there they could have potentially shut things down. Or, perhaps Lowe was perturbed with Smith’s matador defense. He did a few things right, but it is still painfully obvious that Smith’s defense is light years behing his offense. That said, it has also obviously improved over the season.

  8. SouthernWolf 01/27/2009 at 10:10 PM #

    tx pack many of Miami’s offensive rebounds came off of shots that had weird bounces… ok ok so a there were several times where guys should have done a better job boxing out there man…but that is one area where we have improved alot from last year and especially Sid’s first year.

  9. SouthernWolf 01/27/2009 at 10:13 PM #

    Thank you ADMIN or whoever deleted *THAT* post

    That was a rare occasion of a comment post being completely deleted because it crossed the line of attacking the commenters and State’s fans in general. We all know that our team still has a lot of work to do, but to attack people and to call them fools for enjoying a thus-far rare ACC win is unacceptable. It’s fine to disagree here — civilly — but this is not the place to make personal attacks. –Alpha.

  10. edog05 01/27/2009 at 10:13 PM #

    I bet Sid was employing the last second NBA offense. Tell the team that whoever has the ball with 10 seconds left to “DO WORK SON”!!

  11. coachkoh 01/27/2009 at 10:17 PM #

    Night all I have to go before you put us in the final 4 and Sid in Springfield.

  12. inhoc... 01/27/2009 at 10:20 PM #

    “For all you Lowe haters – if you can’t see the constant improvement in this team you are blind or don’t know basketball.”

    someone please revoke triadwolfs blogging privileges!

    we took a 19 point lead to overtime and won on a couple of lucky shots….improvement is minimal at best…

  13. wolfonthehill 01/27/2009 at 10:22 PM #

    “So will someone tell me why Tracy Smith is so friggin great? Every time he gets the ball on offense he backs the defender down and spins into that player OR the double team and throws it awkwardly off the backward or gets blocked. He needs to go to big man camp and develop a hook shot or learn how to pass out of it. I do believe if he learns to pass it will spread the floor and get some open shots for our shooters(whoever they are) and/or cutters to the basket.”

    Jesus Christ almighty – have you really watched this team consistently this year? Have you really watched Tracy Smith when he’s in the game, what he does with the ball (which is typically take it straight to the hoop & score)? And have you looked at a statistical analysis of Tracy’s per-possession statistics?

    .
    .
    .

    Didn’t think so…

  14. McPete 01/27/2009 at 10:24 PM #

    inhoc,
    we were just as lucky to be up 19 in the 1st place. we shot lights out for a half as miami went cold. should never have had that big a lead in the 1st place, we don’t have great consistent shooters.

  15. txpack 01/27/2009 at 10:24 PM #

    Southern, here are the rebounds for past few games:

    vs MU 26 – 41 (off 3 – 15 )
    vs BC 25 – 46 (off 10 – 22 )
    vs Duke 36 – 25 (off 4 – 10)
    vs GT 39 – 41 (off 14 – 20 )
    vs FSU 28 – 35 (off 11 – 11 )
    vs CU 40 – 35 (off 14 – 10 )

    I do not see we have improved on the glass area. We were very bad for past two games. Today, the 3s saved us – which we just can not depend on day in and day out.

  16. triadwolf 01/27/2009 at 10:29 PM #

    Inhoc,

    Just go back and watch any game from last year and then tell me we are not playing MUCH better basketball this year. And that’s with most of last years offensive production leaving the team. How quickly everyone forgets how painful it was for us to even get the ball up the court last year, let alone run a play.

  17. Sw0rdf1sh 01/27/2009 at 10:32 PM #

    As I watched the first half I was amazed, we hit the shots, Fells played up to his potential, and we had a nice big lead.

    I told my wife as I watched the Yow tribute that this is a game of halves. Thank goodness we had the opp for the OT.

    Degand looks to be humming. His side to side speed has looked good the last few games.

    Fells had a GAME. Costner had a game. I thought they all played with energy tonight…something I have had a hard time saying as of late.

    Mays hit his shots tonight and seems to have no fear.

    Glad Wood was in the house to see where he will fit in next year.

    Great win.

    …and Alpha, great post. Glad you and your Pops got to enjoy a nailbiter together.

    Go Pack.

  18. BSIE80 01/27/2009 at 10:33 PM #

    txpack,
    yes we suck at rebounding.
    I believe it is more about quickness, anticipation, desire versus just blocking out.
    Ben and Costner just aren’t good rebounders, even though their stats aren’t too bad, and we typically get nothing from the guards. Possibly, if we stay with the big lineup, we can see improvement in this. Fells got 3 from the 2 guard position, he normally didn’t that from the 3 spot.

  19. red-enough 01/27/2009 at 10:34 PM #

    “i dont want Mcclinton to have any time to drive up the court but i would much MUCH rather him have 5-10 seconds than 40… i dont even care if our shot was a fade away 3 ala herb sendekks dream offense with the shot clock winding down. why on earth would you give mcclinton a full shot clock to work with? its not like he drew the play up for kobe bryant… its courntey fells we are talking about. poor poor decision in my mind.”

    ———————————————————–

    Sid employed a TWO for ONE, which is very often called in the NBA. He decided that he wanted the last shot, and therefore set up a quick shot that would force miami to shoot prior to the game’s end. I like it a lot, because it guarantees that you will get the last shot, and TWO shots at the goal, instead of just ONE if they milked the clock down. Sid will always have a little of the NBA game in him, which can be good or bad… but was DEFINITELY GOOD tonight.
    Great call on the TWO for ONE, and Court will hit that pull up 17 footer more than he’ll miss it, he just alligator armed it a bit…. i don’t think he knew how wide open he was.

    GO PACK!

    EXACTLY. — Alpha

  20. frankiepack 01/27/2009 at 10:40 PM #

    triadwolf^ We beat miami here last year on buzzer dunk by grant with a full house by the way.
    We went to the foul line like 6 times because we stood outside and hit shots. It happens once in awhile but more times than not it will kill you. We won which is good and that is all.
    I see no turning the corner yet. Sid did not “steal’ this win. We won because of Fells,Costner and Ben ,the rest helped out but in this league they will be at best role players.
    Not to be a cruel as they were on ESPN they showed the highlights laughing saying “just how it was drawn up in the huddle” about May’s 3 at the end (great shot ,but not an nba 3) saying he is dribbling out the clock at halfcourt.

  21. inhoc... 01/27/2009 at 10:41 PM #

    “Inhoc,
    Just go back and watch any game from last year and then tell me we are not playing MUCH better basketball this year. And that’s with most of last years offensive production leaving the team. How quickly everyone forgets how painful it was for us to even get the ball up the court last year, let alone run a play.”

    ok well i`ll be as concise as possible but the first thought that comes to mind about getting the ball up the court last year is marquez johnson and javi G. thank God we (kind of) have a pg now. but has that made a huge difference? i dont really think it has off set many of the other prblems that still haunt us from last year.

    i`m not saying that we were out right lucky tonight, but every team, (even this lackluster squad we have this year) will win at least a few league games.

    i would deem “improvement” as going somewhere around 8-8 in the conference this year….if you sleep comfortably at night thinking thats a reality, the thats ok, but i really dont see us winning 8 games this year in the ACC….

    when this team doesnt get out hustled, they get out coached, so pick your poison. we have showed that we have the ability to play ball against squads like DOOK, and occasionally win a game when it matters. but lets look at the big picture, the end result always shows that this is a fatally flawed team and i dare not say why at this point since everyone is high on sids “coaching” tonight…

  22. edog05 01/27/2009 at 10:43 PM #

    Wolfonthehill,

    No, I haven’t seen a “statistical analysis” of Tracy’s per possession statistics but if you know where I can find them I would be much obliged. I think he is an important player for our team and definitely one of two big men who rebound and give us some post presence. However, I do not see him being dominant or even able to stay on the court until he can defend, pass, or score on players taller/more athletic than him on the reg. And no, I haven’t seen him just straight up take it to the hoop and score since Towson state or one of the other scrub OCC teams. I do believe he helps the team as a whole because he brings something to the table that no one else can right now. Hopefully the BIG lineup continues to perform and we win 6-8 ACC games.

    Ok ok, Smith was a man against BC.

  23. hball57 01/27/2009 at 10:46 PM #

    Sometimes I think it would be a good idea for some of you to listen to the post game interviews before you post.

    Simon was put in so that we could switch on screens that Miami was using for McClinton and not have a mismatch with a big on McClinton. And McClinton hit no shot from the field in the last couple of minutes and overtime. So he must not be as bad of a coach as some of you think.

  24. wufpup76 01/27/2009 at 10:48 PM #

    YAY! A win – in overtime – against a halfway decent opponent no less!

    Go State! Good for us, BAAAAD for Miami … Not a crippling blow to their NCAA chances, but definitely a punch to the gut after already losing two conf. games at home this season

    Just a wild game …

    I thought we played a pretty good first half, with a nice defensive effort – especially on McClinton … Man D was really solid this half and I thought Sidney mixed in some zone at the right times throughout the game … Of course, Miami helped us with some missed free throws and not overall great play … I thought our ball movement and execution were also pretty crisp and we made some shots – that no doubt makes the game a lot simplier … Very solid effort from Horner in the first half after Tracy got a couple of tick-tack cheap ones – especially on the flop

    Then we get to the second half … Quick 5 point burst by us pushes us to a 19 pt. lead, and then the bottom falls out … Both their man and zone D really picked up in addition to their physical play – and we didn’t respond … This is where not having an on floor leader and/or someone to be able to take it to the hoop or create a shot really kills us; We literally started to let them dictate the game to us … Both Fergs and Costner hit huge 3’s, and after Costner’s we finally seemed to reawaken a bit

    We literally tried everything we could to give them the game – especially in overtime – and still won … The throw back in under their basket after a missed free throw that led to a 3 pt. play for them when we were up 4 … Fouling McClinton on the 3 … Blowing a 19 pt. lead! … But the kids perservered and I’m proud of them for that … I don’t think there’s any question that we would’ve folded up the tent last season if we blew a 19 point lead, but we didn’t this season thank goodness (Thank God for small blessings)

    Way to go Julius! Great shot! … Solid games from Costner, McCauley, Degand (except for a couple of unfortunate decesions), and especially Fells … We get on Fells enough here (deserved sometimes) that we should give him a hat tip when it’s due … Good defensive effort, good shooting, and a great play on the steal in overtime – well done, great effort!

    Well, that’s 2 … It may be the last one (don’t think so), but at least we have the 2!

    Good job guys

    Go Pack!

  25. Alpha Wolf 01/27/2009 at 10:50 PM #

    ^ Like I said, it was for defense. That’s one area where T. Smith really needs to improve.

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