Sunday: #2 of 6

UC

We discussed the importance of the remainder of the Wolfpack’s non-conference in this great entry that you should read if you haven’t.

In the piece we discuss that the Pack has an opportunity to run the table against a nice stretch of six opponents that would produce an 11-3 record (and a Top 50 RPI) heading into ACC play. (I projected 11-3 as the most likely scenario before the season began; of course I projected losses to different teams than we have experienced thus far).

As you probably don’t want to remember, State lost at Cincinnati by nine points last year in a game that wasn’t as close as the score would indicate as the Pack was struggling to adjust to life without Engin Atsur. You can click here to peak at last year’s nightmare.

This was, by far, the worst effort we have seen from NC State in the Sidney Lowe era. Aside from the continued offensive excellence of Ben McCauley, there isn’t much nice to say. The Pack finished just 3 shy of its all-time record for turnovers, set in 1972 vs. UNC.

Despite Cincinnati’s name recognition, the Bearcats are currently 4-6 with a miserable RPI of #250. They lost to Belmont by 11 points, beat Western Carolina by only 2 points at home and have struggled in other games that you would expect them to have won more impressively.

BUT…beware this superficial view of their performance to this point of the season. This blog entry from the Cincinnati newspaper this week discusses the improvement in the ‘new’ UC.

Of course, the bottom line is that UC is still 4-6 and has lost four straight. But since the final nine minutes of that Illinois State game Dec. 8, UC has played with more purpose and passion. Players seem to be very much listening to and believing in Mick Cronin; they wouldn’t sacrifice their personal well-being for overtly physical play otherwise.

In the long run, no matter how bad Cincinnati looks on paper, if State can tonight then this ‘name program’ in a major conference won’t optically hurt the Wolfpack’s resume if we are on the NCAA Tournament bubble in March.

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07-08 Basketball

34 Responses to Sunday: #2 of 6

  1. chilly water 12/23/2007 at 8:53 PM #

    ^GREAT SCOTT!

  2. 1.21 Jigawatts 12/23/2007 at 8:58 PM #

    All I want for christmas is a PG and 3PT Shooter.

  3. MatrixII 12/23/2007 at 9:00 PM #

    Never an easy win for state…

  4. 1.21 Jigawatts 12/23/2007 at 9:01 PM #

    Good Game Pack. 2 Down, 1 more tough game to go. Those first 5 minutes really looked like the team was in a rythem similiar to late last year. More hustle, just got to watch those screens that free up the 3 pt shooter. Also enjoyed watching State run offensive plays, with motion, picks, high-low. It’s almost like we figured out we are allowed to play an offense of than the “Road Crew”.

  5. Packster 12/23/2007 at 9:04 PM #

    I can’t really say anything negative about tonight. Yeah…one could say we made too many turnovers and they might be right but I still go back to the fact that we are learning to play as a team and that is going to continue to happen. We came through in the clutch making free throws…which is what we are going to have to do in the ACC. This was a good win. I think we are coming together.

  6. JeremyH 12/23/2007 at 9:06 PM #

    keep the comments coming… FSN North decided not to carry it, so all I see is that Costner woke up.

  7. Packster 12/23/2007 at 9:09 PM #

    For those that didn’t see it….we made something like 35 out of 48 free throws. Costner played good in the first half. Hickson was in foul trouble in the 2nd. We got a lot more rebounds that we have been getting. Grant played a great game and was the reason we pulled it out. Cincy shot well throughout the game…especially at the end when they were draining 3’s every time down the court. Javi made CLUTCH free throws and despite turning the ball over more that I would like…we found a way to win.

  8. Packster 12/23/2007 at 9:13 PM #

    Would someone besides me PLEASE make some comments about the game!

  9. redfred2 12/27/2007 at 7:43 PM #

    ^Oh yeah, the game, we won it!!!

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