It was the same old song and dance for N.C. State Saturday afternoon as poor defense, poor shot selection and a slow start led to an embarrassing 84-64 rout by rival North Carolina at the Smith Center. The Tar Heels sprinted out to an early 13-2 advantage and never looked back, leading by as many as 26 points in the second half. Senior Tracy Smith, who finished with 12 points and three rebounds before fouling out with 4:35 left to play, admitted to getting frustrated in the opening half.
“I was embarrassed, really embarrassed,” Smith said. “I blame me though. I got frustrated in the first half and it continued through the whole game.”
Coach Sidney Lowe echoed Smith’s emotions after the game.
“You should be [embarrassed]” Lowe said. “Am I? Yeah, you don’t come out and play like that. You have to play better. You have to come out and battle and beat people.”
The lop-sided loss drops the Wolfpack’s record to 12-9 overall and 2-5 in the ACC while its cross-town rival improves to 15-5 overall and 5-1 in the ACC. Freshman Ryan Harrow, who has taken the reigns as the team’s point guard, was sidelined due to an illness that Lowe said was currently affecting over 25 other student-athletes on campus.
Perhaps the only bright spot in a gloomy game for the Pack was the play of freshman Lorenzo Brown, who finished with a career-high 20 points and added seven assists while filling in for Harrow at point guard.
“I thought he played well at the one,” Lowe said. “He did a great job for us. He’s more of a North-South player. He showed in a tough environment against a very good team and very good players that he could handle the situation. We’ll look at playing him more at the one.”
If North Carolina freshman Harrison Barnes was underachieving entering the game, he certainly lived up to his billing against the Pack. The preseason All-American finished with 25 points in just 26 minutes and added six rebounds for the Heels. Sophomore John Henson was equally as impressive, finishing with 16 points and 16 rebounds to go along with seven blocked shots. The lanky six-foot-10-inch Henson was a force in the paint as well as in the minds of Wolfpack players, altering numerous shots around the rim.
“The fact that [Henson] had a couple of blocks had our guys looking around a little bit,” Lowe said. “We missed a lot of shots at point-blank range. It’s tough when you work the ball around to get it where you want it and then can’t finish.”
Describing the Wolfpack’s offense in the first half as anemic would be an understatement as the team made only seven of its 30 attempts compared to 14-37 for the Heels. A 13-2 North Carolina advantage in second chance points did not help the Pack either in the game’s opening half.
Trailing 34-21 at halftime, the Heels went on a 6-0 run to begin the second half, capped off by a Dexter Strickland dunk to push the lead to 19 points. The two teams traded baskets until Barnes hit a three-pointer to extend North Carolina’s lead to 21. The Heels continued to assert their dominance in the paint during the second half, out rebounding the Pack 53-39 for the game.
“In the second half I thought their bigs really took over the ballgame with the exception of the times where Harrison Barnes hit a couple of shots,” Lowe said.
As the self-described embarrassing losses continue to pile up, players are feeling the pressure beginning to mount, but Brown said the team simply has to stick together.
”It’s tough because we have a lot of people on our back right now,” Brown said. “Telling us what we’re doing wrong and what we have to do to win. We just have to stay together.”
One glance at the Pack’s upcoming schedule and one thing is clear: the road won’t get any easier. State hosts Virginia Tech (13-6 overall, 4-3 ACC) on Wednesday before hitting the road to play Duke (19-2, 6-1 ACC) at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Feb. 5.
