CHAPEL HILL — Going into the locker room at halftime, N.C. State trailed No. 5 North Carolina by only one point. The Wolfpack shot nearly 43 percent in the half and only had five turnovers.

However, when State came back on to the court for the second half, the Pack was without its first-year coach, Sidney Lowe.

Lowe left the game due to flu-like symptoms as he was suffering from dehydration. He “was taken to UNC Hospitals to receive fluids and for further evaluation,” according to Assistant Athletics Director for Media Relations Annabelle Myers.

Junior forward Gavin Grant said not having Lowe on the court played a big role in the discrepancy in the two halves.

“It really affected us. The second half was a different basketball team,” Grant said.

“We were playing together in the first half, playing good defense, running good offense. The second half we didn’t run any offense, hardly played any defense and they killed us on the boards.”

Associate head coach Monte Towe coached State during the second half.

After knocking down five 3-point baskets and going 11-for-13 from the free-throw line in the first half, the Pack had a tough time running its offense in the second half, according to sophomore forward Ben McCauley.

He said one of the main differences between Lowe and Towe had to do with the use of the team’s timeouts. Towe only called one time out in the second half while Lowe, who is usually quick to take a timeout, called three in the first half.

“That’s what hurt us. We didn’t have anyone really calling the offense and making sure we ran it correctly like we were in the first half,” McCauley said.

“We’re grown men; we should be able to do that ourselves. We should be able to calm down and run the offense the way we know how to run it.”

McCauley said Lowe typically does a good job directing the team and keeping everyone “all in line.” He said Lowe is quick to sit someone down and tell him what he did wrong.

McCauley and Grant said Towe was in a tough situation and did the best he could with what he had. However, Grant said the team didn’t do a good job listening to the first-year associate head coach.

“We didn’t listen,” Grant said. “We were supposed to be doing what we were told, and we had miscommunication between the bench and the plays.”