N.C. State (14-13, 2-10 ACC) blew a 12-point lead to Maryland (18-7, 8-3 ACC) and lost, 67-58, Wednesday night at the RBC Center. The Terps showed no signs of fatigue in their third game in the past five days after playing Saturday, Monday and Wednesday.
State is now on a five game losing streak, and is in last place in the ACC.
“We’re not winning games right now and it’s definitely a tough time,” redshirt senior guard Farnold Degand said. “Every game we come in with a new attitude trying to win the game and we’re not going to give up. We are definitely going to come out next game and try to give our best effort.”
State’s energy faded after the team built a 10-point halftime lead on 44 percent field goal shooting.
“It was two totally different halves,” coach Sidney Lowe said. “I thought we played real well in the first half. Both offensively and defensively, I thought we were very aggressive. We executed offensively and defensively the way we wanted to. We just got away from what we did in that first half [in the second.]”
Maryland’s leading scorer Greivis Vasquez, who finished with 26 points, nailed a three-pointer with 7:41 remaining in the game. The three gave the Terps a 53-51 lead. Maryland coach Gary Williams said it seemed to him that some of the Pack’s first half success was brought about the presence of Wolfpack legend David Thompson, who was honored at halftime.
“I saw David Thompson here tonight,” Williams said. “I never saw a better college basketball player than him. The pride that N.C. State has in their program is special and they’ve earned it. We went against that in the first half. But our guys stayed together.”
Degand said one of State’s biggest mistakes came early in the second half when it allowed Vasquez a few easy baskets that gave the Terrapin’s star momentum.
“We let him get loose a couple times and he got a couple of easy baskets,” Degand said. “He got going and once he gets going, he’s pretty hard to stop. We dug ourselves a hole and once he got going, it set us back.”
Maryland continued with the upper hand, going on an 11-0 scoring run. State ended the drought when Tracy Smith stepped to the line, making both free throws with 2:56 to play and the Wolfpack trailing 63-55. A three-pointer by Julius Mays with 1:04 remaining was the last basket for the Pack.
Maryland double-teamed Tracy Smith and made the Pack attempt to win with scoring from someone other than State’s junior forward. State failed to do so in the second half, scoring just 21 points over the final 20 minutes on 23 percent shooting from the field.
“In the first half, we were really active with the ball and draw-and-kick situations and creating shots,” Lowe said. “In the second half, we stopped doing that and as a result we didn’t shoot well. We forced some shots. I thought we had at least six guys in the second half that took bad shots and it was like one after another.”
Leading the scoring for the Pack, senior Dennis Horner scored 19 points, with 10 rebounds. Smith added 10 points.
Opening up the game, State missed its first attempt, a three-pointer by senior guard Farnold Degand. The Wolfpack picked up the pace, trading baskets with the Terps and tying the score seven times in the half.
State took a 24-17 lead with 6:22 remaining in the first half after a 9-0 run. The lead changed in favor of the Pack after a Scott Wood dunk.
With less than four minutes left in the half, freshman forward Josh Davis threw down an alley-oop, pushing the Pack’s lead 30-23 after a 15-4 run.
State headed into the locker room up by 10 over the Terps, 37-27. The Wolfpack led by 12 during the first half, marking the biggest advantage since the N.C. Central game, which State won by 35 on Jan. 30.
During the first half the Wolfpack demonstrated balanced scoring, as no one reached double digits.
Freshman forward Richard Howell was out of the game due to a sprained ligament in his thumb.
State will look to bounce back into action Saturday, hosting No. 23 Wake Forest at the RBC Center at 2 p.m.
Senior forward Dennis Horner walks off the court with his face covered after Wednesday’s 67-58 loss to the Maryland Terrapins. Photo by Peggy Boone
