State beats Clemson – now with 2 game ACC win streak

10-11 Basketball General NC State NCS Basketball109

In a season that has not gone anywhere that was planned or expected, there have been many more downs than ups. However, tonight the Wolfpack men beat Clemson 69-61 to record their 4th ACC win of the year and have now won two straight conference games. CJ Leslie, Richard Howell, Tracy Smith, and Javier Gonzalez lead the Pack to a come from behind win. Leslie recorded 18 points and 10 rebounds, while Smith added 14 points. Richard Howell almost had a double-double in addition with 9 points and 10 boards. Gonzalez added 11 points and 3 assists and played probably his best game of the year.

Smith afterwards discussed the thoughts of the team about the memories from the disappointment at Little John last month.

“I think the guys remembered that game,” Smith said. “They thought about it and they knew it wasn’t going to happen this game. So they went out and fought hard for 40 minutes. We took care of the ball, we rebounded and I thought our defense was pretty good.”

It was a good performance by the team, which played better defense and rebounded much better. The Pack tries for a three game win streak on Sunday when they travel to College Park, which has been a house of horrors lately for NCSU.

About ruffles31

1996 NC State graduate who is still waiting on his first ACC conference championship in any of the four main revenue sports (football, men's basketball, women's basketball, and baseball) since enrolling. All I want is a ACC Champions t-shirt.

10-11 Basketball General NC State NCS Basketball

109 Responses to State beats Clemson – now with 2 game ACC win streak

  1. Packfan28 02/18/2011 at 4:46 PM #

    Based on what I’ve read from a few of the posters, if we beat Maryland and Carolina, they will be calling for Lowe to get a lifetime contract.

    Sheesh, we just beat Wake and Clemson. It’s better than losing to those guys, but calm down.

  2. Wolfy__79 02/18/2011 at 5:04 PM #

    i’m not calling for a lifetime contract… if by some miraculous finish he manages another year.. i’d hope there would be some finely detailed benchmarks for him to hit. new assistants and all that jazz…

    a win over two good defensive well coached teams would in fact mark some sustained improvement. if he was a good fit, we wouldn’t be behind the eight ball every year. but i’m still on his side.. no offense, but how many fans REALLY were in it from sid’s hire? he’s been bashed to death for FIVE YEARS! i doubt sid can pull this off, but i’m behind him 100%.

    personally i want a coach that can shake up the league from start to finish.. i agree with theghost.. i believe he’s given it his all to this point and could use just a little support to the end. as said last night.. gaudio gave him props for his team still playing for him.. and i think he deserves some credit.. it’s not his fault lee fowler wasn’t a complete ad… right??

  3. Wolfy__79 02/18/2011 at 5:05 PM #

    …BEAT MARYLAND…

  4. tjfoose1 02/18/2011 at 5:11 PM #

    Considering we have a 5 year sample…

    If playing hard for 40 minutes is the exception, the coach shouldn’t be retained.

    If the coach can’t maximize the talent of his players (or at least come close), he shouldn’t be retained.

    If the coach can’t create and foster a team culture that develops leadership and unity, and demands effort, character, and toughness, he shouldn’t be retained.

    Two wins, over the likes of the current versions of Wake and Clemson, provide no evidence that the above does not accurately portray our coach.

  5. Thinkpack17 02/18/2011 at 5:25 PM #

    Sid needs to let Coach Lou Brown give the pep talk.

  6. Whiteshoes67 02/18/2011 at 5:33 PM #

    I was optimistic for improvement this season, and my comments aren’t mean to excuse the team’s performance, or as an excuse for giving Lowe another year. On the contrary, I think he’s a goner. But, for what it’s worth, going into the season I didn’t think our record at this point would be too different than what it is. I thought we’d beat BC and CU, maybe take one of the out of conference games (AZ the most likely), and be sitting at 17-8 right now. We’re 14-11 instead.

    We currently have seven losses to top-25 teams: two losses to AP #5 Duke, and one each to #9 Georgetown, #10 Wisconsin, #12 Arizona, #17 Syracuse, #19 UNC, and an FSU team that’s getting votes but just lost its best player.

    The problem isn’t that we lost these, it’s that we weren’t really even in them and we’ve lost to some teams we should’ve beaten. We played with Georgetown for a half, hung around AZ for a while, and stayed with Syracuse. And the same problems previous teams Lowe coached continue, albeit it this year with significantly better talent. Personally, I think the best we do from here out is win 2 out of 5 to finish the regular season, giving Lowe his standard 6-10 year. Beat MD on the road and beat UNC at home, and then I’ll get nervous…

  7. tcthdi-tgsf-twhwtnc 02/18/2011 at 5:56 PM #

    “but peaking at the end of year gets you in to the dance”

    A lot of people think this but there isn’t a lot of truth to it. Winning the big out of conf games in the fall get you in the tourney. State went 0-4 last fall in the important game, thus eliminating almost any chance to make it to the NCAA’s, save an outstanding winter season.

    Without 1 of those wins State would of needed a winning ACC record which probably isn’t going to happen when you can’t win one against your RPI games in the fall.

    If State wins out and makes it to Sunday in the ACC’s they more than likely don’t go and probably shouldn’t go.

    If a team can’t win a big game early, sucks in January and half of February, the last 3 weeks don’t really mean that much.

  8. 61Packer 02/18/2011 at 5:59 PM #

    The main reason State won last night was because they were not playing on the road.

    The Road. Cormack McCarthy’s book, depicts a struggle to survive in a dying world that is void of hope. The book’s theme and main characters parallel the current world of NC State basketball and its fans, who are haunted by their past dreams of glory yet continue their determined trek toward what they hope is a way out.

    Over a lost road (Les traveled, then Herb), they desperately sought a way out of this brutal world. They did not find it. Now, they’ve wandered behind Sid for 5 years in the wilderness, but the skies over Wolfpack nation have darkened worse than ever.

    You say that the sky brightened last night? Yes, it was simply another Tigger flameout, that’s all.

    Another road trip beckons Sunday night. Do you think it will be pretty? I do not think it will be pretty. Fear the Turtle. But above all, fear the possibility that we may travel this road yet one more year.

  9. VaWolf82 02/18/2011 at 6:46 PM #

    Winning the big out of conf games in the fall get you in the tourney.

    Not true. Go back and look at Herb’s bubble years at State. In fact, just look at 2002. State beat exactly one team that year that made the NCAAT. Care to guess who/when that happened?

  10. PoppaJohn 02/18/2011 at 6:56 PM #

    Hey, we got a second win against a team that wasn’t horrible! That’s something! And I think we’ll look back and call this our best game of the year.

    Now let’s not lose our minds, we’re not going to win a road game. Are you nuts? Not only is it on the road, but it’s Maryland! That’s an “L”.

    Then we have a Carolina team that is getting it’s act together. Think that’s a win? No grasshopper, that’s a butt whipping on the way to Raleigh.

    Check back in and read the hate starting Thursday after back to back losses. It will be nasty.

  11. choppack1 02/18/2011 at 7:01 PM #

    We have a very, very slight chance of an at large bid right now. That would entail winning at least 7 games. This means winning the last 5 of our regular season games and 2 in the tourney, or winning 4 of 5 and making it to championship game.

    As for the program itself, if you want to know a big reason why we’ve struggled, look at Tracy Smith play D. He’s been in Raleigh under this staff for 4 years and he goes airborne at almost any pump fake. I think Dennis Horner would hang 20 on him and foul him out in 10 minutes.

  12. 61Packer 02/18/2011 at 7:13 PM #

    State’s only way to the Big Dance is through Greensboro, all the way through.

  13. tuckerdorm1983 02/18/2011 at 7:27 PM #

    I expect us to lose the next two games. What would be improvement is not to be blown out. Say the score at half of both these games is pack low 20 ish and the other team is high 30 ish to low 40 ish.
    We just can’t really come back from that. If that is the case at the half with UNC and MD we are toast. I want to see us down by less than 10 at the half and not get much further down. We maybe even get as close as 5 in the second half. That would be progress.

  14. wolfy85 02/18/2011 at 7:42 PM #

    I didn’t take the time to read through all 60 something posts, frankly I don’t have the time or care that much. So if i missed anything, forgive me.

    We played pretty well last night, beat a decent team, and for the most part played with pretty good effort and were able to win an ACC game at home. It just doesn’t mean much more than that. I wish you people would leave it at that and take it for what it’s worth. Instead you all go ripping into the what it means at it applies to the coaching staff and if it’ll save Sid’s job.

    It pisses me off so much that many of you on this site would rather lose every game the rest of the year if only to be rid of Sid. I WANT A NEW COACH as much or more than any of you, but I will NEVER hope we lose so that I get my wish. Pull for the WolfPack and trust DY will do the right thing when the season ends. Winning a couple ACC games and finishing sub-500 in the league this year isn’t gonna save his job anyway. Let’s enjoy the victory and stop talking about the coaching issues for a couple days.

  15. mak4dpak 02/18/2011 at 8:25 PM #

    Frustration and fear of another year with Sidney Lowe. That is why this subject continues to come up. I hope it won’t be an issue next year. No more mediocrity, Enough is enough!

  16. camel77 02/18/2011 at 9:35 PM #

    Very disappointing in the size of the crowd last night. For all the season ticket holders that wasn’t there, you shouldn’t be allowed to get them next year. A true State fan is there through thick and thin not just when things are going good. It will not look good on NC State if all those empty seats last night are filled with light blue next week.

  17. mak4dpak 02/18/2011 at 11:00 PM #

    camel77, if we have bad showing at Maryland, there might be quite a few seats filled with light blue. And no that would not look good on NC State, and I am sure the commentators would have a hay day with that. They all seem to have a deep love for the smurfs.

  18. Rick 02/19/2011 at 9:37 AM #

    “Very disappointing in the size of the crowd last night. For all the season ticket holders that wasn’t there, you shouldn’t be allowed to get them next year. A true State fan is there through thick and thin not just when things are going good”

    First, you do not determine who is a good fan and who is not. If I start seeing posts accusing others of not being “true fans” I will start deleting posts and posters.

    Second, since there are seat licenses, the only way for a fan to show his disapproval is to not show up to the game. They are forced to buy the seat but they do not have to go. IMO it is this that will get him fired as it is obvious he had lost the majority of the fans.

  19. ADVENTUROO 02/19/2011 at 9:45 AM #

    Not a Coach or an AD, but I stayed at a LOT of Holiday Inn Expresses, so that qualifies me as much as anybody to express an opinion.

    HWSNBSOHA left the program in shambles. He had recruited for the Princeton offense.

    Coach Lowe had a major setback due to his personal issues. Should give him a pass for this, which actually knocks a year off his record. He was part of our MAJOR success story. I lived through this and still watch the DVD’s of the 1983 NCAA run.

    Coach Lowe has some initial recruiting success, if you call JJ Hickson a “pro prospect”. He started him and caused chemistry issues with some of the HWSNBSOHA left overs. The girl friend sharing issue also had its impact.

    NOW, Coach Lowe has brought in a prized recruiting class. The media and this board and the other monkeys (yes we have some here….me included from time to time) went APE FECES. The press overrated us and expectations were way too high.

    Coach Lowe learned from past mistakes. He gave the upper classmen their shot. Tracy went down. The flu bug hit. Some folk’s head got a little too big.

    NOW, things are starting to gell. There is maturity. The upper classmen, especially Javi, are providing solid minutes. Without Javi, the game on Thursday night would have been much closer.

    As to the Clemson game, that was a real team effort. Probably overall our best of the season. In the WFU game, the starters performed flawlessly. In the Clemson game, there were a few glitches, but the bench stepped in.

    Clearly TWO wins in a row do not a season make. BUT, if Coach Lowe and the Team continue to progress, then this may be a turnaround season.

    What is NOT helpful is all the speculation.

    The Team and Coach Lowe are trying to achieve.

    IF some AD or some disgruntled big contributor terminate Lowe, then I HOPE that they have iron-clad contracts for the Fab Freshmen. They MAY walk….and where would be we be? We will NOT get the equivalent of a Rick Barnes….so get over it. We would be LUCK to get a coach on the caliber of Shuan Miller…but I don’t even hold that much hope.

    No offense to Mrs. Yow, but her little “confrontation” with the MD folks and “Gary has got to GO…” little tantrum does NOT make her the AD that every up and coming BB coach wants to work for.

    I am hoping for a continuation and then also for Coach Lowe finishing his contract NEXT year.

  20. packhammer 02/19/2011 at 10:19 AM #

    So when are we going to beat Maryland at their place or unc at ours? Both are doable this year. How those two games go will say a lot about a lot of things.

  21. Wolfy__79 02/19/2011 at 11:36 AM #

    i think its just the frustration talking about seats not being filled. they’ve been that way all year.. as long as we can get marginal/very little blue next week i’m ok.. nothing i can do but hope for a crowd for one more. the folks that do not show up certainly earn and pay for that right. it’s disappointing but it has to be done. sidney is not getting the message.. it really should have been done pre-sid if you know what i mean. specifically with the clempson attendance.. it was the same.. maybe slightly less than previous games i’ve attended.. but the crowd was much more in it!!

  22. Wolfy__79 02/19/2011 at 11:38 AM #

    ^btw, alot of those who choose not to attend also probably paid for the construction of the rbc and continue to finance it with their contributions.. just sayin..

  23. Wolfy__79 02/19/2011 at 11:54 AM #

    what really has gotten under my skin for the past decade is that many of the better teams in the ACC have been beatable at times through those years… especially md! unx too!

    put the five year body of work together + things like attendance and it’s a no brainer. this is a revenue sport.

    someone spoke earlier of horner vs smith.. you are exactly right. the lack of fundamentals in the game is too obvious. our players should be coached to a much higher level. somehow, tracy manages not to get into too much foul trouble.. but he doesn’t try very hard either. sophomore to junior year he developed.. jr to sr.. nothing but a mediocre jump shot has been added.. he doesn’t go strong in the paint AT ALL??? he abandoned his bread and butter so to speak???

    javi is another good indicator to me.. does he look like a fourth year acc player to anyone? you know, should a senior nc state guard or player of any sort get t’d up for the type of stuff he does?? it has been evident for me, forget the stats, just look at the seniors from say season 2 until now. they should be the cream of the crop.. instead they are just as lost as the freshman.

    i continue and will continue to want this to work.. but i’m not blind to the informal indicators i use at all. beating md would be another fanstastic building block for this season.. followed by another “w” against the tarholes? that would indeed be progress..

    ..the thing i think most PACK fans are tired of are the hopes of miraculous turnarounds and runs..etc that come from the v days. we need the coach that can outsmart the opponent. it’s not to be easy against K, roy however gets outsmarted almost each and every game.. one thing he does well is keep his team player intense defense.. yada yada. all the speculation is deep rooted among our fans and won’t change without wins! if that doesn’t motivate Sidney, nothing will.

    remember at unc? he shrank to the bench.. defeated. i’m not attacking him, he’s doing a good job sticking it out.. but that’s about it for me!! who knows, maybe he’s got one of those miraculous finishes in him??

  24. tjfoose1 02/19/2011 at 12:34 PM #

    Some might calls those who blindly support failure at our university not a “true State fan”.

    Some of what I’ve read above reminds me of the mentality of Fowler, Oblinger, and Montieth.

    I’m also reminded of feminine product commercials.

  25. swamppack 02/19/2011 at 1:16 PM #

    Wake Forest and Clemson are just too weak to base any kind of talk about turn-around seasons off of. Those two wins mean nothing without the addition of a win over Maryland tommorrow and Xarolina wednesday.

    Don’t get the idea a W in each of those next two games would even START to sway me to support keeping Lowe. Lots of love here for Him but I vote no when it comes to him being a head coach.

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