#3 UNC Outscores Wolfpack, 89-80

08-09 Basketball General247
  NCSU (14-10) 36 44 80
#3 UNC (24-2) 39 50 89

Carolina was too much for NC State to handle last night in Chapel Hill last night, and they handed the Wolfpack an 89-80 loss.  The Wolfpack played well in the first half of the game, holding the #3 Heels to only a three-point 39-36 lead at the halfway mark, but in the second stanza, Carolina’s multiple threats were able to out-gun State.

“This time,” Wolfpack guard Javi Gonzalez said, “at least it was pretty close the whole game.”  Unfortunately for the Wolfpack team and its fans, it wasn’t close enough by the final buzzer.  Still, Gonzalez had a point — Carolina blew out NC State in the RBC Center on January 31st by a 93-76 count that wasn’t even that close.  Last night Carolina had to work harder for the win, and the Wolfpack has  clearly shown some improvement since the first meeting — but the contest last lnight also showed how far it NC State to go last night until it can compete with and defeat an elite team like UNC.  Progress has been made, sure, but there is much more progress left to be made.

Wolfpack head coach Sidnet Lowe said in the post-game interview that his team “came out with good energy and kept ourselves in the ballgame. I thought our guys gave a pretty good effort, but we turned it over a couple of times crucially and gave them an opportunity to get out and run on us.”  In the end, that made the difference for the upstart Wolfpack.

Carolina improved to 12-1 against the Wolfpack since Roy Williams took over at his alma mater before the 2003-04 season.

Box Score (espn.com) | Audio Interviews (850 The Buzz)

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Go with your comments here for now… until Jeff and co. decide to put something more substantial up (or modify this).

I had luck with the game thread last Wednesday… why not try it again?

About Dr. BadgerPack

NCSU Class of 99 and PhD University of Wisconsin, 2006... Which should adequately explain the screen name I chose at 2am one Saturday...

08-09 Basketball General

247 Responses to #3 UNC Outscores Wolfpack, 89-80

  1. GAWolf 02/19/2009 at 8:52 AM #

    One last thing… I made a comment to my buddy…. who so graciously continues to take me to games over there despite my inability to sit and watch impassioned sports sitting on my hands… that Roy was working the heck out of the refs late in the second half when Carolina was very close to being up by 20. I don’t recall the exact score.

    I don’t recall Sid ever working the refs. This is more indicative of Sid’s lack of college coaching experience, I believe, and I look for him to learn that “art” as time goes on and he feels more comfortable in the position.

    It was just amazing to see Roy work the refs with the game obviously in hand. WIth about 3 minutes to go my buddy said Roy would likely call a timeout. I asked “why, to work the refs some more?” He said, “Oh, well, yeah, but mainly to get in bench guys.”

    Roy understands that even with the game in hand these refs are going to work another one of his games and likely very soon. He doesn’t let them forget ANYTHING… not one botched call.

  2. Sw0rdf1sh 02/19/2009 at 8:53 AM #

    “I’m not happy we didn’t get the win. It doesn’t matter how I did.”

    Big comment from Javi. I for one and very happy for the guy. I have been just as disappointed and the next guy in his play in the early part of the season, but he is just plain on it as of late.

    Good for you Javi. Burn it up and stay humble when you do.

  3. JimValvano 02/19/2009 at 8:57 AM #

    GAWolf makes a very good point about this weekend. Something is going on with that Virginia Cavaliers team. They knocked of Clemson in overtime, and then took it to their rival Virginia Tech last night and won by fourteen. Clemson and VA Tech are no joke. Maybe the Cavs have turned the corner. It may end up being a good game this weekend…I just hope it goes in our favor. I still think we are the better team, but VA has shown some life lately.

  4. GAWolf 02/19/2009 at 8:57 AM #

    Javi wasn’t without fault last night to be truthful. He blew a chance to get a shot off with 6 seconds in the first half and picked up his dribble numerous times without knowing where he was going with the ball. Those are two things an ACC point guard cannot fail to do: 1) manage the clock as the leader on the floor, and 2) avoid confusion setting up the offense.

  5. Astral Rain 02/19/2009 at 8:58 AM #

    Well, I thought the team would completely tank after the VT game- but they’ve proven otherwise. Hopefully this season begins the turning point.

    I’m really seeing a team that is starting to learn how to win.

    As for that big 10 game- that was worse then NCSU-Iowa in Sendek’s last year.

  6. Pack Leader 02/19/2009 at 9:24 AM #

    UNC doesnt know what they will miss when lawson goes pro. I honestly done see this team being top 10 w/o him. Javi had a great first half but he cant do it all himself. Fells decided not to show up until 2 mins left in the game in good ole fells fashion. At this point fells reminds me of gavin grant from last year. Great one game, horrible the
    other. I may be wrong but i think of all the seniors, he will be the easiest to replace. Hell we replaced him last night with williams. Costner got bottled up alot in the second half but he needs to look for his shot more, sometimes I think he gets tentitive when a tough defender follows him all over. Degand still has trouble running a half court offense and when the play breaks down, every single time he will drive to his right and try to get a shot off. that wont win games. Javi does a much better job of getting the ball out of his hands and moving without the ball. Smith has been our best player for the last 2 weeks and continues to improve every game. Last night the announcers said 6’8″ was a stretch for him and i agree but that just proves you dont have to be the tallest to grab a rebound.

    On a postive note i do agree with the comentators last night in that sid as finally found a way to give every player a role. If every player knows what is expected of him then theres no grumbling of playing time or more shots etc. Next year really does look like it can be a spring board for us (i mean it this time!) as long as Costner decides to stay.

    My roommate took a trip down to Georgia a week ago and was lucky enough to see Wheeler vs Centennial (Howell vs Brown) and first hand told me Howell will be a copy of Smith. Hard worker, body banger, hustler, not much more than 6’7 but will fight for every rebound. Bob Gibbons was quoted after the game as saying he would be the most ready to play in the acc of all the recruits, and thats saying alot considering brown is a potental McDonalds All american.

    With continuous improvement we can easly be 500 or better in the acc next year. Just remember guys, at one point we wernt sure we would have a winning record all year, we have seen a big change. Just like my boss told me today,” Hey you came closer than duke……”

  7. anti-smurf 02/19/2009 at 9:30 AM #

    take away the first 2-3 minutes of the 2nd half, and we play them even strength. I thought we played well, and VAST impovment over our last trip there. several unc fans around me commented that we were getting much, much better, and could cause some damage in ACC Tourney.

    I’m proud of Javi – I’ve been critical of him, but I thought he played very well, especially in the first half! Smith is a beast, and may be an unstoppable force next year. just needs to improve FTs.

    Overall – I can’t say I’m happy, cause we still lost, but I can live with it. unc is too much for most teams right now.

  8. GAWolf 02/19/2009 at 9:34 AM #

    Agreed… Tracy Smith is improving by leaps and bounds. Truthfully both he and Ben played good defense against Hansbrah. They adequately contested a lot of baskets he made… as any player of the year will likely do. Tracy also is almost a given in the post if he gets the ball without a double team. Again, there’s a lot here to be optimistic about.

  9. Sw0rdf1sh 02/19/2009 at 9:35 AM #

    I didn’t say Javi was without fault, but honestly, I’ll take that game play from him every night. I just see a confidence like I haven’t seen since he *bitch slapped* Paulus.

    (a tear just fell in that memory)

  10. GAWolf 02/19/2009 at 9:40 AM #

    I know you didn’t. Sorry… I wasn’t pointing that comment at you as much as all of us. Including me. There’s still a lot of room for Javi to improve his play, though undoubtedly he showed great signs of improvement last night. It’s easier to say that, too, when a man has a career scoring night against our rivals. I don’t think we can look to Javi to drop 20 the next few games. Truthfully, I’d prefer ZERO turnovers from that position over 20 points.

    I’m not sure how many 3 point plays (and 1’s or 3’s) we gave up on turnovers but it seemed to me in the stands to be almost every turnover resulted in a 3 point play for them. That hurts. A lot.

  11. ChiefJoJo 02/19/2009 at 9:48 AM #

    Disappointed we didn’t get the win, but I was impressed with how we played, especially Javi (unreal). Realistically, it would have taken a near perfect effort to win–they have too much talent. The play I most recall being a turning point was with just under 10min to play, where Javi picked up his dribble and passed to the wing and the Heels overplayed and intercepted, went down for the score. That happened with Degand too. You just cannot have the PG pick up the dribble up top, as UNC feeds off those plays. They must have gotten 8-10 points off TOs like that.

    Still, Javi kept us in the game in the 1st half hitting the open three. I think Roy made special mention about his play (that he was impressed). I will admit i never saw it coming, and you have to credit him for persevering, and the staff for continuing to believe in him.

    I love the big lineup with Smith. Anyone notice how much better of a rebounding team we are with Tracy in there? He seems to get a double-double each time out. If he can just improve his FTs, he could be a 20/10 guy next year… at just 6-7. I love how he uses his feel and body down low.

    The refs did not cost us the game. If you believe that you need to take off the red glasses.

    This is now our third game in a row where we have played well, and that’s improvement. Even the haters have got to give Lowe a bit of credit for the positive trend of late. Now, we must have a bunch of wins in a row, and maybe we can make the ACCs more interesting.

  12. newt 02/19/2009 at 10:21 AM #

    I think you don’t double team Hasbro because he’s going to score anyway, or the man you left to guard him, and what you are trying to do is not put him on the line in addition to him scoring. I thought we did a pretty good job of guarding Hasbro without fouling last night, meaning standing up straight and tall between him and the basket. He still shot 7 FTs.

    In the first half, we pushed the ball like I haven’t seen a State team do since about 1985. Anybody else notice this? In the second half, I frequently saw Lowe urging Degand to attack the defense, rather than letting up and trying to regroup. Signs of things to come, I hope.

    Costner was a Mickey D, btw.

  13. tcthdi-tgsf-twhwtnc 02/19/2009 at 10:41 AM #

    I think State is looking as good as the Pack has looked in 20 years. UNC is an incredibly talented team so a loss wasn’t unexpected. For the first time in as long as I can remember it looks like the team is a team. The offensive set isn’t determined exclusively on the shot clock, by that I mean State isn’t waiting until 10 seconds left in a possession to start looking at the basket.

    I’m looking forward to the remaining games and I think State has a shot to win each of them. Finally a foundation to build on and if State can get into the NIT that will go along way to bringing the returning guyes together even more.

  14. PackWolf7 02/19/2009 at 10:51 AM #

    I’m encouraged that there is a lot of positive energy being expressed by Wolfpack Nation after the most recent loss to the Holes. Assuming that the players pay at least a bit of attention to our comments, that has got to be encouraging to them. To make progress work, both the team and fans have to work together and not be at odds with one another. Fans can’t continually put undue pressure on the kids and Sid. Many have done that already (including myself), and what happened?….the kids and Sid responded favorably with progress. It is now in our laps, as fans, to continue to support them and give credit where credit is due. The Wolfpack Nation has been sorely divided for a long time, but since the team has responded positively and leap frogged over criticism, the Nation needs to come together and show further good support and respect. We need to improve ourselves as fans and recognize achievment. It just may rub off on Sid and the team. GO STATE!

  15. tcthdi-tgsf-twhwtnc 02/19/2009 at 11:37 AM #

    ^^ Well said. I don’t think the fans need to improve but I agree that the fans need to support all teams that work hard and play to the best of their ability. I have no doubt that since Lowe found the right guys during the second half of the BC game they have all responded and are playing at an ACC level and the team is working to better.

  16. highstick 02/19/2009 at 5:31 PM #

    I think we should all write Swofford and play “politically correct”. We need to really get on him about how Roy and Hansborough were using the “F” word and offending our children, grandchildren, and wives. The Green says the “S” word!

    We just cannot continue to let this vulgar language to take place particulary in “God’s Basketball Arena”! Carolina players and coaches are starting to act like Dookies!

  17. redfred2 02/19/2009 at 6:16 PM #

    On the WRAL news reel, that last play shown, Tyler with the layup, and Fells with a FOUL??? That was a foul???

    Also, watching Tyler chest banging with McCauley over and over again, I’d have to set my feet and at least try to get the offensive foul call. I know, I know, this is unc and little T boy that I’m talking about, but if you are going to bang WITH him, and can’t stop him before he gets two feet from the basket, then fall on your butt and give a foul, but then get up and make it a point of contention with the refs. They aren’t going to call it either way when the defender is simply banging back and still giving ground.

  18. redfred2 02/19/2009 at 6:26 PM #

    I’m not going to make more out of it than it was, but unc played pretty flawlessly in the 2nd half and they made shot after tough shot like I haven’t seem them do all year. I feel pretty good about the game and what it SHOULD mean to our players.

  19. packplantpath 02/19/2009 at 7:17 PM #

    Redfred2, that’s the honest to god truth. Since when is banging your body against a defender not a foul? It’s on video. It sure looks like a foul…. Clearly it was a foul, and it was going on all night.

    A properly called game would have Tyler fouled out by the 6th time he touches the ball in the paint. I can handle losing. But that kind of crap disgusts me. Call the game by the rules or get rid of the rules and let everybody body check the whole game.

  20. old_pcorone 02/20/2009 at 2:22 AM #

    For me losing by 8 points is almost a W in the books
    Hope the kids minds are getting in gear, the talent is there, is just all in tehir minds.

    BTW, the refs should not wear puke-blue underwear!

  21. NCMike 02/20/2009 at 11:59 AM #

    What about losing by 9? Oh well, another one over and in the light blue column.

  22. PackMagic83 02/20/2009 at 12:32 PM #

    As I was watching the game and Javi was doing so well and had so much fire in his eyes, it all made sense to me. He was finally getting the monkey off his back.

    Think back to last year. Javi had to start, with little experience, replacing an injured Degand in the first ACC game, on the road against a strong Unc team.
    I was a recipe for disaster and it was!! I wonder whether when Javi has been pressed this year and his eyes have glazed over, whether he was having a flashback from that game.

    That was the beginning of our point guard nightmare last year. I hope this puts that in the past for the rest of the year.

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