Pack Wins In Lowe-vertime: NCSU 84 – Miami 81

08-09 Basketball General186

UPDATE: 850 The Buzz has put post-game interviews online.

Julius Mays sank a three-pointer from the top of the key with 2.8 ticks left on the clock to give NC State a three point win in OT.  Sidney Lowe moved to 5-0 in overtime games, and he did so with a combination of solid coaching moves, tenacity by his team on the floor and some good luck at key moments down the stretch of the extra period.

1 2 OT T
Miami Hurricanes 25 45 11 81
NCSU Wolfpack 39 31 14 84

Courtney Fells had 24 points to lead the Wolfpack, who blew a 19-point lead early in the second half and a pair of leads late in regulation and in overtime before Mays shot sealed the win for the Pack. Brandon Costner added 21 points and Ben McCauley had 12.

Your post-game thoughts here.

ht: “russelbuzz” of 850 The Buzz’s Blog for “Lowe-vertime” phrase.  We like it.
08-09 Basketball General

186 Responses to Pack Wins In Lowe-vertime: NCSU 84 – Miami 81

  1. highstick 01/27/2009 at 10:57 PM #

    Didn’t watch as it’s gotten too painful! But, I’m danged glad the guys won! One more win and we’ll meet my projection for ACC wins this year.

    Wow, would it be great for Fells to play like he did against Carolina a couple of years ago!

  2. triadwolf 01/27/2009 at 10:58 PM #

    inhoc

    Never said this was a “turn the corner” game nor that we would go 8-8. Also never said I was pleased with the results. But this team is getting better as the season goes on and is playing much more like a team than at any point last season.

    Throwing Lowe under the bus at this point accomplishes nothing except potentially turning recruits away. Yeah, the players still makes bonehead plays, Lowe makes coaching mistakes, but this team is a world away from that pathetic thing we had last year. Players are improving, playing as a team most of the time, and hustling. Sounds like a coach heading in the right direction to me.

    Good night, it’s late.

  3. 61Packer 01/27/2009 at 10:59 PM #

    From my seat in Section 125, that was a good win tonight over a tough team who I think has as good a player as there is in the ACC (McClinton). Our defense at times was outstanding and the players played hard. A few ill-advised shots almost cost us, but we were able to keep our poise when it counted, and where I thought Miami really lost this game was on the free throw line, despite McClinton’s last 3 FTs.

    Those who say we have no talent don’t know what they’re talking about. The ability to hang with Duke, plus get a 19-point lead on the U isn’t pure luck, but we did hold serve despite the OT.

    My only concern is that we basically won this game from behind the 3-pt line, and we can’t count on 50%+ shooting from out there this coming Saturday, although I’m sure we’re going to come out firing from beyond the arc. I hope they keep falling.

  4. txpack 01/27/2009 at 11:07 PM #

    Today, the BIG lineup did not save us. It is
    1) Fells’ 3s (6-9)
    2) Fells last defensive play
    3) Mays’ last 3
    4) 10 TOs only (not b/c we are better, but Miami did not press us)

    For the BIG lineup to win more game, we will need Fells to perform consistantly, his numbers on 3s:
    vs Miami 6 – 9
    vs BC 0 – 4
    vs Duke 0 – 3
    vs GT 0 – 2
    vs FSU 1 – 7
    vs CU 2 – 5
    His ACC average is 30%.

    Today we shot 54% (14-26) on 3s as a team – It is unbelivable!It is very difficult to duplicate the performance against ACC teams.

  5. Astral Rain 01/27/2009 at 11:08 PM #

    well, I can accept this team choking away a lot of games, because I am seeing improvement in the hustle and attitude, so the building blocks are there.

    This won’t be like the Sendek and Amato situations- if we have to let go of Sid, the cupboard won’t be bare. (Not saying Sid has to go, but in both those cases the new coach had massive holes that couldn’t be filled and the effects lasted for 2 years)

  6. Bubba 01/27/2009 at 11:24 PM #

    Congrats to Ben. He became the 9th player in school history to score 1000 pts have 500 rebs and dish out 150 assists

    Brandon was the 8th such player earlier this year

    Two nice milestones for kids that catch alot of flack from our fans

  7. travelwolf 01/27/2009 at 11:32 PM #

    …

  8. wufpup76 01/27/2009 at 11:38 PM #

    “Sid, I support you all the time. I like the starting line up and PT, but I can not explain or back you up tonight when you put Harris in for OT. Inexcusable.”

    ^I’ve seen a lot of comments on Harris coming in on the last posession of regulation and for overtime …

    For what it’s worth, I shook my head in total agreement when he made that move when I was at the game … Thomas was killing us, opening up the post for Collins and also freeing up McClinton some; Tracy, as hard as he tried, could not hang w/ Thomas … I really liked the sub there … You lose some offense w/ Smith, but more importantly you gain defensively (in this instance) and don’t lose much on rebounding – while shuffling Smith in and out at the 4 or 5 after Costner fouls out … Harris also set several really solid screens in the OT session – this was a good move by Sidney IMO

    Saw a question about why Harris over JT? – Miami’s Thomas held a fairly significant physical advantage over JT in this situation … You can’t go too small, and Harris is a good tweener between the 2,3, and even 4 sometimes for defensive and rebounding purposes

    Also saw some questions concerning putting in Horner or Smith; Here again, Sidney is trying to match strength versus weakness … When we took the lead in OT, who would you rather have on the line – Smith or Horner? Ball movement also tends to be slightly better when Horner is in, which at times helped us against their zone

    Also, don’t know how many caught it – but Costner even logged a couple of minutes at the 5 tonight … Like I said, weird game 🙂

  9. JeremyH 01/27/2009 at 11:43 PM #

    I was looking at the box score, and Ben and Brandon logged heavy minutes in this one. So, think about that–if Sid yanks one or both of them out you can hear “never pull out a hot shooter” or “oh now it’s the read team, sid it’s not working”, and if he doesn’t do it, it’s “why don’t we score for 7 minutes at a time” or “why can’t we play hard and win at the end of games”. I am starting to see the side of him doing his best with what he’s got, and what he’s got is doing its best with him. I think all we’re looking for is improvement, and so we keep an eye on that in the last 9 ACC games.

    We still need big bodies for next year, we’re losing 3 6-9 forwards.

  10. wufpup76 01/27/2009 at 11:45 PM #

    Also wanted to say that it was a really nice tribute to Kay Yow tonight – it definitely had me tearing up

    Very glad to see the girls team there tonight, and the Miami players handled themselves with class giving polite applause for both the girls and Kay Yow

    God bless Kay Yow, Rest In Peace

  11. travelwolf 01/27/2009 at 11:49 PM #

    Thanks for deleting my post. I guess it was the use of various symbols in place of 4-letter words…

    Let’s have a 1st grade lesson… how to tell you coach sucks: you win a close one (finally) and fans remark:

    “…but i’ll take it”, or
    “…it could have been a season ending blow”, or
    “We made a lot of mental mistakes, but…” or
    “We literally tried everything we could to give them the game…”

    Yes, those are all comments taken from above – search them yourselves.

    End of lesson! You have been prepared for the 2nd half of the season. And, may I remind you of the 1st Amendment – not that it really matters in the state of NC. I’m a big state fan and I support Sidney Lowe (for the first 3 years), but we should have won this by 10 points. I’ll still be watching NCSU as long as I can. As a previous coach has said “Don’t ever give up…wishing for another great NC State Coach.”. OK, maybe that last part wasn’t exactly his words, but I’m sure he meant it.

  12. Classof89 01/27/2009 at 11:50 PM #

    Think the team showed some character tonight in stepping up with a big play everytime they had some adversity or Miami made a big shot. Team still has a long hard row to hoe to even make the NIT (they’d have to go 5-11 in ACC, and win an ACC tourney game) but stranger things have happened. Bad News: this is Courtney’s one good performance for the month–wish he’d saved it for UNC–when was last time he scored 15+ points in back-to-back ACC games?

    Maryland looks increasingly beatable–hope we get them twice this year…

  13. sf59 01/27/2009 at 11:54 PM #

    ^thank you wolfpup… somone else besides me figured out why simon was in the game; and that he did the small things to help pull out the W

  14. SouthernWolf 01/28/2009 at 12:02 AM #

    I dont know what reb stats you are looking at txpack, espn (though they are known to have been wrong on such things) has us at

    2008-2009

    Team Reb (Offensive reb) NCSU

    Marquette 23 (8) 25 (6)
    FL 21 (9) 24 (8)
    CU 34 (9) 33 (10)
    FSU 31 (9) 23 (10)
    GT 37 (18) 33 (11)
    Duke 24 (9) 31 (11)
    BC 40 (19) 24 (10)
    Miami 33 (10) 22 (2)

    2007-2008
    Mich St 39 (11) 29 (10)
    UNC 50 (18) 28 (10)
    Miami 42 (14) 28 (6)
    GT 22 (6) 27 (10)
    FSU 30 (14) 26 (6)
    Duke 26 (11) 25 (9)
    Wake 41 (16) 33 (11)
    BC 35 (11) 22 (7)

    and I dont even think i need to go to sid lowe’s first year where we just where absolutely dominated in this category

    2006-2007
    Virginia 47 (18) 31 (4)
    Alabama 43 (13) 29 (8)
    BC 45 (20) 30 (8)
    CU 28 (10) 24 (7)
    Wake 29 (11) 23 (5)

    if you cannot see the gap between us and our opponents closing then when i have time this weekend i will put all the data into tables and do a linreg to see if we are truly closing the gap between us and our opponents on rebounding

  15. wolfonthehill 01/28/2009 at 5:33 AM #

    edog05 – I’d merely suggest perusing the Section Six blog routinely for great pre-game, post-game and season-to-date statistical analyses of the Pack and their opponents. Great info there, broken down on a per-possession basis, that honestly helps explain quite clearly why teams (and players) are effective or not.

  16. Texpack 01/28/2009 at 6:21 AM #

    Redenough – Spot on with the two for one analysis.

    Simon Harris was in the game to defend the three point shot. This is exactly the way V used Harold Thompson for those of you old enough to remember. I saw Thompson put in games more than once to defend very late.

    Tracy Smith was out of control tonight. I wasn’t shocked to see Horner. The early fouls really seemed to mess up Tracy. Hope he has a better game Saturday.

    Excellent game by Degand. The foul on McClinton was his one mental blunder.

    Maybe this is what the coaches see Fells do in practice.

  17. hball57 01/28/2009 at 6:49 AM #

    Thanks for the mention of Degand. & assists in each of the last 2 games; 2 turnovers.

    It just goes to prove something that a lot of people on this site don’t get – you CAN get better as the season goes along. What a shock! Here was a game most on this site thought we would lose. Now many of you would rather be right in your assessment of this team instead of seeing an improving team that has a chance to win some games. Good luck with that.

  18. Packster 01/28/2009 at 6:52 AM #

    Face it Lowe haters. Our team is hustling more. They are still not a good team but they are at least hustling now. That is an improvement and can’t be denied. This is as good of a win as we have had in 2 years. It is something to build on. Degand is getting better with each game. I think this team has the potential to win some more ACC games going forward.

  19. BJD95 01/28/2009 at 7:53 AM #

    Like I said at the outset, this was a win we absolutely had to have to make the NIT a realistic possibility. I’ll take it any way we can get it.

    I’m glad Fells had his “one great game” last night – that won’t be enough to beat UNC, and we lose by 10+ tonight without him.

    The amazing this is seeing people STILL point fingers at Ben/BC/Fells. Other than Degand, they pretty much had all of our production tonight.

    I am very proud that we kept our composure after blowing the huge lead. I didn’t expect that at all.

  20. SEAT.5.F.2 01/28/2009 at 7:56 AM #

    Congrats Wolfpack team- they derserve a pat on the back for playing well down the stretch of one heck of an exciting ACC contest.

    This team has invested so much time and energy to be succesful this season so I’m very happy for this squad that they atleast get to taste the sweetness- it goes away so enjoy it. Roy Williams has alot of nice quotes and one of my fav’s is about outside expectations and opinions. It goes something like “The people who don’t have much of anything invested in this thing are not going to know much of anything”.

    That said I was glad to see the experienced guy’s whom so many have said have not improved at all since their time here play and win a hard fought battle TOGETHER. McAuley, Costner, Horner, Fells, Degand have been beating around he courts of West Raleigh together for a long time and if they can ever play to the abilities and respond well together we could nip these tired arguments, like “sid’s player vs. herbs players”, because after all they are and alway will be part of the Pack.

    Oh, and putting in Simon Harris took some nerve but in the heat of the battle when the game was on the line it was a stroke of genius. He came in specifically to now what brand of under shorts the kid Thomas was wearing. If any hadn’t noticed the guy was lights out and Lowe being an NBA guy knows that you can’t let your opponent get three feelin’ it against you at once- the angles of basketball just don’t allow teams to play effective help D when you have that third option since you will always leave atleast one hot shooter a clear look at some point. How many points did Thomas have after Harris entered the game? – News flash- Lowe has learned strategies over the years and he will implement them-

  21. Rick 01/28/2009 at 8:03 AM #

    “Face it Lowe haters. Our team is hustling more.”

    In an adult world, people can criticize and not “hate”.
    If you do not want to read valid criticism go to another site.

  22. Rick 01/28/2009 at 8:08 AM #

    A few comments
    We are starting 4 forwards and an, at best, serviceable PG. To win that game took something.
    I understand why Harris was in for defense but why not do an off/def sub pattern? Hard to argue with what worked but that would have made more sense to me.
    I still do not understand why Horner gets so many minutes. A shortened bench should not include Horner.
    McCauley was obviously tired at the end of the game. He was beat for some easy baskets.
    Why did we shoot with 17 seconds left? They way McClinton was playing I do not know how they did not win.
    We kept our composure and Mays hit a big shot. That can only help us long term.

  23. Wulfpack 01/28/2009 at 8:10 AM #

    Now THAT is what I’m talking about. A TOTAL team effort!

    This could be the start of something good…Great job by the Pack last night.

  24. BoKnowsNCS71 01/28/2009 at 8:15 AM #

    Good things – 3 point shooting, cut turnovers by 50% and had a 19 point leads
    Bad things – losing a 19 point lead, rebounds, and letting the opponent get back in the game.

    It was ugly but I will take it. I just hate to think about games against good teams.

  25. BAC79 01/28/2009 at 8:16 AM #

    Gentlemen: I really do not believe there are any “Lowe haters” out there. Hate is a very harsh term.

    What I do believe is there are a lot of fans like myself who have been frustrated for the last twenty years with all of the expectations, hype, and WTNY.

    We, including myself, have had to accept the fact that Lowe was a desperate hire by LF with no college coaching experience but with a deep love and commitment to N.C. State basketball. That doesn’t mean that we should accept or like the Sid’s long learning curve.

    In my humble opinion, Sid is in year 2 1/2 where any other college coach with experience would have been after year one. This is very frustrating for fans like us who have watched the slow and painful deterioration of N.C. State basketball over the last twenty years.

    Sid may make it and he may not. At any rate, I do not think we will know until year five. We can debate until the cows come home whether letting him stay five years to find out is reasonable or not.

    The one constant theme I think the majority of us can agree on is we have leaders at the top who really do not share our enthusiasm for N.C. State athletics. Money is king in their eyes and until the money starts drying up things will stay the same. A sad reality to deal with to be sure.

    So let the debate continue. But how about more civility and let’s quit trashing each other so much. We all have strong opinions but we can express them without demeaning each other.

    I agree completely about the civility part. That’s what makes SFN the site that it is. Discussion can become debate, and sometimes even heated, but folks need to remember that they should treat others as they’d like to be treated themselves. I deleted one way-over-the-top comment last night that was basically full of insults and nothing else. That’s NOT what SFN is all about, and if that’s what folks want to do, I suggest the free forums at other sites as a more a propos venue. And BTW, the “First Amendment” does not apply here.

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