State lost to Wake last night in a game that, unfortunately, played out almost exactly as I expected. (Link to game story) The Las Vegas line favored Wake by 9.5 and the Demon Deacons won by 8.
The following sums up the game in short order:
The ACC’s top rebounding team held a 48-40 advantage on the glass, shot 42.6 percent and led for nearly the whole way but needed to hold off a second-half comeback bid by the Wolfpack to wrap up its fourth straight win.
Javier Gonzalez scored 18 points, one shy of a personal best, while freshman Scott Wood added a season-high 11 points and Tracy Smith had 11 points and 10 rebounds before fouling out with 5:28 remaining for N.C. State (8-2, 0-1).
The Wolfpack were 6-for-21 from 3-point range and turned it over 16 times yet nearly rallied from 14 points down. The Wolfpack made it a four-point game with 14 1/2 minutes left before Wake Forest pulled away with a 14-4 run.
For the game, the Wolfpack shot the following:
.339 overall from the field (21-61)
.286 from behind the arc (6-21)
.579 on free throws (11-19)
Backing the Pack has his statistical analysis up (Link).
In addition to his comments that follow I would add that I would have liked to have seen a few less offensive rebounds for Wake but I appreciate Coach Lowe trying out the zone (that ended up being poorly executed).
Opportunity was there–Wake clicked in fits and starts but didn’t play well at the offensive end overall and averaged less than a point per possession. But State couldn’t shoot for shit, hitting 28.6% of its threes and 36.6% of its twos. After Dennis Horner cut the Deacs’ lead to four, the Pack missed several chip shots on ensuing possessions, let the Deacs score an easy put back after a missed free throw, and they never seriously threatened again.
NC State’s bench scored seven points on 2-15 shooting.
A few individual story lines worth noting:
* Scott Wood had a ‘break-out’ performance and really looked good on both ends of the court.
* Jordan Vandenberg provided some solid minutes in the middle as Richard Howell and DeShawn Painter continue to be very inefficient with their opportunities. Vandenberg logged 11 minutes while Painter & Howell logged 11 minutes between the two of them.
* Without Javi Gonzalez‘s offense, there is no telling where this team would be. Wake’s first big run of the first half happened while Javi was on the bench.
* The boxscore has Josh Davis at 13 minutes; but that doesn’t feel long enough. I think he should have been on the floor longer last night.
* Tracy Smith came public with his thoughts of the officiating (Link). Smith was in foul trouble on Sunday night on some calls that were very frustrating. Equaling frustrating were two blatant Wake fouls against Javi Gonzalez that got no call and led to five Wake Forest points in transition. That was really tough.
Current Position
For what it’s worth, the 8-2 Wolfpack currently hold the #44 spot in the RPI having played the 93rd toughest schedule in the country. State has the following five games before launching into our ACC Schedule with a must-win home game against Virginia on January 9th:
Dec 23 @ Arizona
Dec 29 Winthrop
Dec 31 @ UNC Greensboro
Jan 3 Florida
Jan 6 Holy Cross
* A 4-1 record against this slate would create a very surprising 12-3 record before the bulk of the ACC.
* A 3-2 record against this slate would effectively wipe out any hope for a surprising NCAA Tournament berth and generate an 11-4 record, which is at least one game better than most pre-season prognostications would have had.
