NC State takes down Boston College on Senior Day, 66-54

09-10 Basketball College Basketball General72
Photo courtesy Ethan Hyman/N&O. Click the photo for more images from Saturday's win.

Photo courtesy Ethan Hyman/N&O. Click the photo for more images from Saturday's win.

When Dennis Horner hit the RBC Center hardwood with 18:13 left in Saturday’s game with Boston College, he got up with blood streaming down the right side of his face. Head coach Sidney Lowe said he wasn’t sure if the senior forward would return.

Return he did. All it took was a few stitches and some super glue. Horner proceeded to score 10 points in the final 10:55 to lead the Wolfpack past Boston College 66-54 on senior day. Horner finished with 14 points. Junior forward Tracy Smith led NC State with a game-high 19 points while CJ Williams added 14 of his own.

“I heard it and I walked out there and saw the blood, I was concerned,” Lowe said. “I didn’t know if he was coming back out or not and the next thing I knew he was sitting right there on the bench and I saw him and said ‘Jesus kid let’s go in the game’. It definitely was a scary moment.”

Horner said the hard foul by Boston College’s Josh Southern wasn’t a dirty play despite the result.

“I just landed, and I guess it landed right there and split it open,” Horner said of the gash just above his right eyebrow. “That’s basketball.”

Julius Mays, who scored six points and dished out four assists in 23 minutes, said he wasn’t a bit surprised to see Horner come back in the game and play well after everything he’s been through this season with injuries.

“Typical Dennis,” Mays said with a smile. “He’s always taking hard falls, getting hurt and staying hurt. Bad knees, always sick. To see him come back and play through it on senior night and knock down two or three big shots was a great feeling.”

While NC State ended up on a positive note, picking up its third win in four games, the beginning of senior night started about as poor as it could have. NC State turned the ball over six times in the first 4 minutes and 47 seconds and let BC get out to a six point lead at 8-2.

“Senior day didn’t start off well for us but I thought the guys did a good job coming off the bench and when those first unit guys came back in they continued to play well,” Lowe said.”Great, great effort on our teams part. We had a lot of guys that really contributed.”

After struggling for the first six minutes, NC State played well for the remainder of the game, using a 19 to five run to close out the game and the regular season. The Wolfpack did not commit a single turnover in the decisive second half and finished with just 10 for the game. Farnold Degand, the other senior honored prior to Saturday’s game, finished with one point in 15 minutes.

“The last couple of games in the ACC we’ve been clicking and when everyone is rolling we can play with anybody in the country,” Horner said. “We beat Duke, Wake Forest, at Florida State and at Marquette it shows that we can play with people. We’re just rolling into the tournament confident.”

Lowe said it’s good to see the team playing well late in the year after having suffered through tough losses early in the year and during the ACC season. He said his team is starting to figure out what it takes.

“We’re figuring out some things about ourselves and how we have to play to win. We’ve played better lately. We’re playing better than we played early in conference play and this is a little momentum for us,” he said. “It’s something to take into the tournament. It’s definitely a positive.”

NC State will take the court in the first round of the ACC Tournament Thursday night at 9 p.m. The game will be broadcast on Raycom.

09-10 Basketball College Basketball General

72 Responses to NC State takes down Boston College on Senior Day, 66-54

  1. choppack1 03/08/2010 at 3:38 PM #

    Doing better than expected? You finished 11 out of 12 teams..I’m sorry, that still sucks when you were picked last place if you finished one game ahead than one of those teams.

    And regarding expectations – I still think it’s crazy to base “the state of an entity” on its expectations – simply because, when they are bad enough – the expectations have been dumbed down.

    And if you are picked last and you finish second to last – when there are plenty of teams – I find little solace in the fact that, yes, you indeed suck, but you didn’t suck as bad as some people thought you would.

  2. wufpup76 03/08/2010 at 3:40 PM #

    “What was the crowd like? Tickets were 2 for 1?”

    ^Good crowd yesterday, surprisingly. And a crowd that was in the game and very supportive.

    Whatever your beliefs about the staff, program, NCSU athletics – the problem(s) certainly are NOT with the fans.

    I will wait to give a season grade after the season concludes like last season. Season and overall results always speak a lot better than one game results. Objective decisions should be able to be made based on RESULTS. Not trending, or hope, or recruits, or line-ups, injuries etc. or anything else … results need to matter. Especially after year 4.

    I’m not part of the Sunshine or Hate squad. I think fairness dictates that you give credit for the positives and question the negatives. I try to do this after every win or loss. The overall results should speak for themselves.

    I will say that my review last season concluded for me that *this* season was the make or break season for Sidney Lowe. Obviously, he is going to get another season – but that will not factor in to this season’s grade or which direction *I* think the program should go (not that anybody gives a rat’s a** what I have to say).

    One game does not a season make. One season does not a program make. But four seasons sure as hell does make a program.

  3. bradleyb123 03/08/2010 at 3:43 PM #

    We finished tied for ninth.

    If we finished in a 12-way tie for first place, would you say we finished last?

  4. Rochester 03/08/2010 at 3:43 PM #

    Here’s what concerns me about next season: We are putting a heck of a lot of our eggs in the freshmen basket. Outside of Tracy, we don’t carry over a single player we can hang our hat on. Javi Gonzalez, whose job we all want Ryan Harrow to steal, will be our only other returning player to average double figures in points (10.0). Scott Wood (7.8) is next, and while I really think he will blossom into a nice ACC player, he’s not there yet.

    We’ve seen glimpses throughout the season from Richard Howell, CJ Williams, even Deshawn Painter and Jordan Vandenberg. But at this point in time those guys are all role players, some in very minor roles.

    Now we expect freshmen Harrow, Lorenzo Brown and Luke Cothron (and maybe CJ Leslie) to come in and take major minutes in a rotation that includes one and a half sure things (Tracy, Wood). It could happen. They’ve all got talent. But what you really need to excel in this league is talent plus experience. We won’t have that next year.

  5. bradleyb123 03/08/2010 at 3:46 PM #

    There’s really not even much point in talking about Sidney in terms of should he stay or should he go. It’s kinda pointless at this point. Unless you want to hurt recruiting, because it will either accomplish NOTHING… or it will hurt recruiting. Nothing more, nothing less.

    Sid’s kids have won 17 games. Sid ain’t going anywhere yet. He’s got at least next year. Posting about how horrible he is isn’t going to accomplish anything other than making the poster FEEL better about himself. It’s not going to get Sidney any closer to the chopping block.

    But it MIGHT hurt recruiting. Recruits do read these blogs. Why risk hurting recruiting when the posts are pointless anyway?

  6. bradleyb123 03/08/2010 at 3:49 PM #

    Now we expect freshmen Harrow, Lorenzo Brown and Luke Cothron (and maybe CJ Leslie) to come in and take major minutes in a rotation that includes one and a half sure things (Tracy, Wood). It could happen. They’ve all got talent. But what you really need to excel in this league is talent plus experience. We won’t have that next year.

    Not trying to be a smart-azz, but why don’t we cross that bridge when we come to it?

    I believe one of our BIGGEST problems has been the lack of stellar point guard play. I believe Harrow can come in and fill that void in his first year. It’s not like we’re asking a skinny kid to bang around in the paint with huge, ACC-caliber centers. We’re asking him to run the show, and I believe he’ll be up to the task. But until we find out, what’s the point in worrying?

    If I’m right, and Harrow is the PG we’ve been missing, then I believe that will elevate the play of those around him. In other words, everybody else may have done a little more THIS year if we had the PG we’ve been missing.

  7. wufpup76 03/08/2010 at 4:22 PM #

    ^bradley, you don’t even know what grade I will give or what I am going to say.

    Also, I have not once engaged in a “he needs to go vs. he needs to stay” argument.

    Aim that crap at someone else.

    Also, being fair and judging actual RESULTS is hardly someone trying to feel better about themselves.

    If everyone’s posts are so pointless (which in the grand scheme of things they are), then why worry?

  8. packfan03 03/08/2010 at 5:16 PM #

    wufpup76,

    You’re taking things out of context. It’s pointless to argue about Situation X (Coach Lowe’s presence on the sideline next season) when the outcome of Situation X has already been decided.

    That doesn’t mean we can’t have a spirited conversation about the direction of the program. It’s factual, recruits look at these boards. If you actually believe Lowe is a bad coach you should still hope these recruits suit up for us next year and that Lowe continues to recruit well. Coach Lowe will, in your theory, coach himself out of a job, and we’ll have a stacked team ready for our new coach. Note: I firmly believe Lowe will excel with Harrow at the helm next year.

    I’m not privy to your perspective, so I apologize if I’ve assumed incorrectly that you are anti-Lowe. Honestly, I don’t care either way. I just want to create an environment that attracts top recruits to our university. If that means coming on this board from time to time to air some positivity, I’ll do it.

  9. bradleyb123 03/08/2010 at 5:19 PM #

    Did I call you out, personally wufpup? Actually, my post was directed at choppack.

    What I worry about is our pointless posts affecting recruiting. Then they DO have a point. Only they don’t accomplish what the poster WANTS to accomplish, unless his goal is to hurt recruiting. I don’t think that’s the goal of the anti-Sid negative nancies on here, whoever they are. Best case, it does no harm (and it certainly doesn’t heat Sid’s seat). Worst case, it hurts recruiting. That’s why I want it to stop. Sid is 17-14 and WILL be here next year, regardless of what we say about him.

    (If someone complains about my use of the phrase “negative nancies”, allow me to direct you to the many references in these blogs to the “sunshine crowd” as a derogatory way of referencing those that post positive comments about Sidney…)

    Packfan03, you wrote EXACTLY what I was trying to convey. Well said!

    I have stopped defending Sidney. I’m not saying we should keep him. I’m not saying he should be fired. I just don’t want people inadvertently hurting recruiting, when their goal is just to express how they feel about Sidney. They need to realize their posts don’t accomplish anything, but they MAY hurt recruiting.

  10. wufpup76 03/08/2010 at 6:01 PM #

    ^My apologies for assuming that your post was aimed at me, bradley.

    And packfan, you have assumed incorectly that I am anti-Lowe – just like I assumed bradley’s post was aimed at me. Though I appreciate your post.

    I don’t think I’m taking things out of context. When and if I do a season end review that no one save me will care about, I can put whatever I wish in it and the admins can delete as they see fit. It may be moot to discuss whether Lowe will be here or not, but that does not mean I can’t have an opinion. Many on here voice their opinions after one play, natch one game. I do not do this. IMO, I have been exceedingly fair to the staff and players after each win or loss. I’m as positive as anyone after a win. I try to be fair and not emotional after each loss (of which there are many).

    This *was* the make-or-break season for me – that doesn’t mean I won’t hope for the best for Sidney and the program *if I happen to give a negative review* (which, for the record, I have not done).

    As to your point about positivity vs. negativity – I dislike overt negativity or being negative for the sake of it. HOWEVER, this is a free site and people will post many things. I appreciate this site’s admins’ efforts to keep this a “tell it like it is” type place. There’s a difference between out-and-out negativity and just calling things what they are. It’s my OPINION – and opinion only – that negative posts on a community board or message board shouldn’t matter one way or another as to recruiting. You may have a point about recruiting and negative posts, but that’s a battle you are never going to win.

    I wish more people gave credit when it’s due and question only the negative. But I am not a dictator nor can I control people’s feelings or reactions. That’s part of the beauty of it though. I don’t believe this will ever be a rah-rah site full of “Come to NC State!” propoganda. And I appreciate that. This stuff doesn’t exist in a vaccum, and if recruits are really teetering b/c of message board stuff then God help us.

  11. bradleyb123 03/08/2010 at 6:39 PM #

    No problem, wufpup. I actually changed my tune after we lost all those games just before our recent 3-of-4 winning “streak”. I thought Sidney had lost the team, and I started calling for his job. But someone pointed out that it wasn’t doing any good for everybody to call for his job. Recruits ARE online, and if they get the feeling on every blog that the fans have all turned against Sidneythat could make them feel like the Sidney’s job is unstable. And even if they don’t read it, other schools could also use it against us in the recruiting process. So I decided to stop calling for Sidney’s job publicly, even if I did want him to be replaced after this season.

    I actually don’t mind seeing what happens with his 2010 recruits next year. I was wrong about him losing this team. They got the fire back in their bellies again. But I’m not convinced Sidney will work out in the end. I’m just willing to give him a shot for one more year, to see what he can do with a highly-rated point guard. He hasn’t had one since Atsur left.

    I’m not sure it was fair to make THIS year his make-or-break year, though. I know we’ve had three miserable years before this one. But this was the year that we lost all our scoring and senior leadership from last year’s team. It’s almost not fair to expect all these freshmen to fill those shoes in their first year. (I know, excuses, excuses!) But still, had it not been for the three previous years, would we have put this kind of expectations or requirements on this team? What we know is that Sidney failed to win in his first three years with another coaches’ players. I believe they were never on the same page with Sidney from the getgo, so I don’t hold those three years against Sidney as much as most other people do. But even my patience is wearing thin. I think we have enough returning talent that we can win the the incoming talent. I’m requiring a .500+ conference record and NCAA tournament bid out of next year’s team. I don’t want an ongoing experiment with Sidney. I’m just willing to give him a shot for one more year, and only because of the top-10 recruiting class we have coming in. I think we have a legitimate shot at CJ Leslie. That’s another reason I try to counter all the negative posts about Sidney. I don’t want us to be part of the reason we miss out on CJ Leslie. Calipari’s seat is nowhere near as warm as Sidney’s. I’d like to cool Sid’s seat as much as I can (just doing my part!) because I don’t want that to be the deciding factor in CJ Leslie’s decision. Especially considering that Sidney clearly isn’t going anywhere this year. But if CJ Leslie perceives that Sid could be let go soon, it could sway his decision.

  12. wufpup76 03/08/2010 at 7:58 PM #

    ^I had thought he (SL) had lost the team as well – but clearly I was wrong on that (and thank goodness). We have that in common 😉

    I do understand yours and packfan’s point with respect to recruiting, but there is another side to that. If we had good results, no one would be worried negativity and recruits. It’s something that feeds upon itself. Do the recruits make the coach? Does the coach make the recruits?

    I’m definitely not saying this is the case with SL, but what is the acceptable measure for when to keep a poor coach just to get certain recruits? Again, I’m not calling SL a poor coach – but recruiting is one of those fickle things that can be used for both sides of the argument.

    I maintain that I sincerely hope that SL can get this all figured and worked out. I think most would be happy then and we could tirelessly debate something else 🙂

  13. packfan03 03/08/2010 at 9:10 PM #

    wufpup, I apologize for inferring something without asking for clarification. I can’t stand it when people do that to me, online, or in person.

    I want Lowe to succeed, and understand he hasn’t yet. It’s really frustrating, but that’s State Basketball for you! We’re in an interesting predicament with highly touted recruits coming in during the critical fifth year of Lowe’s tenure.

    Results determine a coach’s longevity, and unfortunately Coach Lowe hasn’t done himself any favors at this point – so I understand the frustration. But ultimately, players when games – and we’ve got them for next season. I’m sure as freshman they’ll win some games they aren’t supposed to win, and lose some they should. But at the end of it all, we need to be dancing. I think Lowe knows that and will have our troops ready.

    I’m hopeful like you, and will be VERY disappointed if we aren’t leaps and bounds better.

  14. whitefang 03/08/2010 at 9:21 PM #

    You know I read most of the posts and feel compelled to point out one thing. Those of us who think its time to replace SL want us to win every bit as badly as the SL supporters do. We’re all on the same “side.” Many if not most State fans think its time for another approach. Certainly others feel Sid should get more time. Unquestionably most of us believe our AD is a freaking disaster and its fair to dread him conducting another coaching search.
    But most importantly for me I think NC State is “bigger” than me, the AD, and even Sidney Lowe. I want State to return to relevancy and yes even importance in athletics. That place will always be special to me, so while we may disagree on the fate of one coach, I would hope that we would all agree that Wolfpack success is what we all desperately want and in fact demand. I sincerely hope I experience it soon whomever is coaching.

  15. packfan03 03/08/2010 at 9:34 PM #

    “Many if not most State fans think its time for another approach.”

    That’s certainly not true, in reference to Lowe. On this site it might be, but not as the general tenor of State fans. It DEFINITELY is true in reference to Fowler. I don’t put State secondary to Lowe, I just think Lowe is the answer for next year.

  16. wufpup76 03/09/2010 at 2:48 AM #

    No apology necessary packfan. Always enjoy a good debate.

    Go Pack

  17. bradleyb123 03/09/2010 at 11:36 AM #

    Those of us who think its time to replace SL want us to win every bit as badly as the SL supporters do. We’re all on the same “side.” Many if not most State fans think its time for another approach.

    I agree, we need another approach. We need some great recruits for a change.

    Oh wait… 😉

  18. choppack1 03/09/2010 at 3:19 PM #

    “We finished tied for ninth.

    If we finished in a 12-way tie for first place, would you say we finished last?”

    If we were swept by all 11 teams ahead of us, I’d say that we came in 12th out of those 12 teams.

    Look, I agree, that this was one of Lowe’s better seasons. It wasn’t as good as last year where we had a chance of winning 7 regular season games w/ a win in our last game of the regular season…but it’s not like the dreaded 2008 season where we lost 9 straight.

    It’s just not a good sign for the future of a program when people are taking encouragement from NOT finishing DFL. I could understand if this was his 1st or even 2nd year…but it’s the man’s 3rd year – so I think the “we finished 11th place!! *(yes, I known, in your mind we finished 9th) – is a pretty sad sack argument to make to say, “look we improved.”

    I’ve got some hope next year – but I’m not going to sit back and take this year as “encouraging” because we exceeded THE LOWEST POSSIBLE EXPECTATION.

  19. bradleyb123 03/09/2010 at 5:33 PM #

    It’s just not a good sign for the future of a program when people are taking encouragement from NOT finishing DFL.

    If I thought that’s what people were doing, you’d be right. That would be sad.

    My hopes for this team was just to not implode and win only 10 games or something. I didn’t expect much because of all the young guys, and still no great PG. I’m not happy with only winning 17 games, but look how close we came to winning 21 games. We lost four games by 2 points or less, including that Florida debacle where they STOLE the win from us with an impossible shot that went in. We were THAT CLOSE to 21 wins, with five freshmen. And there were not many games we didn’t have a chance to win. We played well at times, just inconsistent. But that’s to be expected with so much youth getting a lot of minutes.

    I like the talent on this team, but we still need the point guard, and we have one coming in. And the current youth has a full season under their belts now.

    I think we have plenty to be hopeful about next year. I expect to be .500 or better in the conference, and have an at-large NCAA tournament bid locked up before the ACC tournament even starts. If not, I’ll probably be joining in calls for Sidney to search the want-ads.

  20. choppack1 03/10/2010 at 10:15 AM #

    perfectly reasonable post bradleyb.

    One thing though – when you include the close losses, you need to include the close wins too – and we had a few of those.

  21. bradleyb123 03/10/2010 at 11:01 AM #

    Actually, I think we only won one game by two points or less (Auburn). And we sure didn’t beat anybody on a 75 foot buzzer-beater! 🙂

    We beat Elon by three, and lost to Clemson by three, and neither game should have been that close, so those games are a wash.

    I wasn’t so much saying we SHOULD have won those games, just saying that’s how close we came to being 21-10 right now. And with a team full of new recruits. I know the ACC is supposedly down this year, but we were pretty darn close to blowing the preseason expectations out of the water. But even the way things worked out, we did still manage to (barely) exceed expectations.

    And we lose two players that aren’t exactly great, and replace them with two five-star and one four-star recruit next year.

    I think we have plenty for which to be hopeful.

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