Despite stretches of brilliance, thunderous dunks and head coach Sidney Lowe’s famous red blazer, N.C. State was unable to pick up its second conference win and replicate last years upset victory over No. 5 Duke. The Pack, 11-7(1-3 in ACC), pulled within five points midway through the second half, but Nolan Smith, Kyle Singler and company seemed to silence the rowdy RBC Center crowd time and time again.
“I feel like we always made the run but we always let them fight it off,” sophomore forward Scott Wood said. “Coach has been telling us all the time ‘we have to get that stop, get that stop.’ It’s a war out there and you have to win those battles.”
The Pack’s third straight ACC loss was certainly a tale of two halves. In the first half, State shot a season low 21.6% from the field, compared to Duke’s 50%. The Wolfpack managed to score just 28 first half points.
However, the second half was a completely different story. State shot a much-improved 54.8% in the second 20 minutes. Senior forward Tracy Smith and freshman guard Ryan Harrow led the way with 19 points and nine rebounds, and 15 points and five assists, respectively. But the Blue Devils proved why they are a top-five team and a favorite to win the ACC, by shooting over 50% the entire game.
“They can shoot,” Harrow said of the Blue Devils. “They really can shoot. They hadn’t been shooting the ball well the last two games before ours, but then they came out here lighting it up. I don’t know what it is, whenever we play anybody they just shoot the ball ridiculously.”
Although head coach Sidney Lowe was far from happy with the loss, he admitted he was proud of the comeback, and was enthusiastic about the level of play in the second half.
“There is always something to take from a loss,” Lowe said. “You hate it but you have to take something from it. There are no moral victories at all, but when you are playing a team like that you have to look at the positives. You have to look at the fact you got back into the game and look if we could have gotten those two or three rebounds when they tipped it in after we stopped them.”
Harrow led the second half surge, scoring 13 of his 15 points in the second half after starting 0-5 from the field. The speedy freshman played all 20 minutes in the second half and led the Pack to its third 50 point half of the season.
“I just want to win,” Harrow said. “I’m a leader, but I’m not a vocal leader. I’m a little guy so they aren’t always going to pay attention to what I have to say, but a game like this, I’m really trying to win. So I am trying to get everybody focused, everybody playing hard no matter what else is going on. I want to be out there and help my team win as much as I can. If that’s me playing the whole game, then that’s what I’ll do.”
Along with increased minutes for Harrow, Lowe shifted the second half lineup, giving State a bigger, more physical team with senior forward Tracy Smith, sophomore center Richard Howell, freshman forward C.J. Leslie and Scott Wood garnering the majority of the second half minutes.
“It gives us more ability to rebound the ball, and it even helps defensively,” Howell said of the lineup change. “C.J. [Leslie] is so long so he can guard the ball. The lineup really helped.”
Wednesday’s loss marked the 233rd meeting between State and Duke, with the Blue Devils holding a 136-97 lead in the series. More importantly, the Pack drops to 1-3 in conference play. However, players are optimistic looking forward to conference play.
“That is the story of our season getting over that hump,” Wood said. “Once we get over it we will be tremendous. We have meshed together as a team and we just need to get over that hump. Today showed we could play with some of the best teams in the ACC.”
