The men’s basketball team will continue competing in its first tournament action of the year over the weekend in Charleston, S.C. The Pack’s competition in the annual Charleston Classic started Thursday at 6 p.m. with an 85-65 win over instate rival ECU.
Freshman Lorenzo Brown led all scorers with 16 points on 5-for-10 shooting from the field, freshman guard Ryan Harrow came off the bench to go for 11 points and 10 assists, and sophomore center DeShawn Painter contributed 12 points and 10 boards in the romp. Two other players, C.J. Williams and Scott Wood, also finished in double figures for the victorious Wolfpack.
The Pack’s blowout win over the Pirates comes just over a month after the football team failed to close out a hard-fought game in an overtime loss in Greenville to an underdog ECU squad. Harrow said before the game that the winner would likely represent the state throughout the rest of the tournament.
“I think whoever wins that game will represent North Carolina,” Harrow said. “We have ECU first so we can’t quite look past them yet. You have to take one game at a time. If you look too far in the future, you’ll lose sight of your current goals. We have to take one step at a time. That’s the way we’ve always done things and that’s what we’ll continue to do.”
Along with the Wolfpack and Pirates, the Classic bracket includes George Mason, UNC-Charlotte, No. 20 Georgetown, Coastal Carolina, Wofford and USC Upstate.
“I haven’t paid much attention to the other teams, but I do know Georgetown is pretty good,” Harrow said. “Hopefully the final matchup will be us and Georgetown, but we’ll see what happens.”
State will take on the winner of George Mason and Charlotte Friday at 6 p.m. on ESPNU.
After downing Tennessee Tech 82-69 last Friday, the Pack is anxious to open the careers of its three highly-touted freshmen with a string of victories in their first collegiate tournament.
Starting with their first tournament action over the year over the weekend, the transition from high school to collegiate play for freshmen Harrow, C.J. Leslie and Brown will be eased by the support of veteran teammates like seniors Javier Gonzalez and Tracy Smith, Harrow said.
“Javi has been a big help,” Harrow said. “He’s taken me under his wing a little bit. Anything I’ve needed, he’s helped me. He’s kind of been like a big brother. I’ll be sad when he’s not on the same court as me.”
In addition to the excitement the trio has brought to the fan base, it has also given coach Sidney Lowe more options for defenses and lineups this year. Depending on the Pack’s opposition, with more options, Lowe can mix and match personnel to a greater extent this season.
