State loses to Miami (Sunday Morning Update: Headlines)

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States loses to Miami 79-78, once again, on a last-second tip-in.

State led 76-71 with 1:31 remaining but then turned the ball over on consecutive possessions and missed the front end of a one-and-one and then a jumper in the final minute, which gave Miami the chance to win on its final possession. Which they did on a tip-in off a missed jumper with a little over a second remaining.

State has now lost its four league games by a combined nine points, and finds itself facing some trouble at 5-4 (5th place), with a Thursday 9pm game at Cameron looming.

Feel free to meltdown below and/or over on the re-launched SFN Forums.

HEADLINES

Bret Strelow (FayObserver.com)
Grieving Tyler Lewis gives N.C. State some inspired play

Sitting in his Statesville home Saturday, watching his inspired son assume a leading role for short-handed N.C. State, Rick Lewis shed tears and cheered enthusiastically with the toughest man he knows.

His 82-year-old father.

Clennon Lewis was shot in the ear and leg during the Korean War, and he survived a helicopter crash in Vietnam because the aircraft landed in a body of water. He’s had two triple bypass surgeries, the first in 1975, the next 21 years later, and he hasn’t let prostate cancer or several aneurysms defeat him.

So when Clennon chatted with his grief-stricken grandson on the phone late Friday night and asked him to play Saturday, what choice did Tyler Lewis really have other than to say he would?

At about 8 p.m. on Friday, four days shy of her 84th birthday, Margie Lewis died at Iredell Memorial Hospital, where she was being treated for pneumonia. Tyler lost his grandmother, Rick his mother, Clennon his wife of 61 years.

Urged to remain in Raleigh, Tyler nearly directed the Wolfpack to a dramatic win over ACC-leading Miami. A freshman reserve who had totaled 38 minutes in the first eight league games, he posted 16 points and five assists with only one turnover in 36 minutes of a 79-78 loss.

Tyler played most of his high school career at Forsyth Country Day, but another Winston-Salem product, Miami’s Reggie Johnson, stole the spotlight by scoring on a go-ahead tip-in with 0.8 seconds left.

“I knew what I had to do out there,” Tyler said. “I had to prove (myself) to all the people that hadn’t seen me play this year. After this, I think I proved a lot of people wrong.”

That’s exactly what Clennon expected from his grandson.

Omega Wolf (BackingthePack.com)
Second Half Swoon

If there is a silver lining in N. C. State’s last-second, tip-in loss to Miami, the Pack’s second such loss on the season, it is the emergence of Tyler Lewis, who had 16 points to go along with a 5-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio while spelling the injured Lorenzo Brown. In seven of N. C. State’s nine ACC games the Pack’s opponent has scored at least 56.9% of its points in the second half; this fact strongly suggests that the Pack’s thin bench is causing a gassed squad to give up an abnormally high total of second-half points, thus also losing leads late in games. Lewis’s contribution against Miami may give Mark Gottfried enough faith in the freshman point guard to give him significant minutes even after Brown’s return, boosting the thin rotation and perhaps helping the Pack stave off the second half swoon.

The most egregious example of State’s collapsing trend is the game against Wake Forest; Wake put up 51 points against the Pack after intermission. The half is the Deacons’ highest scoring 20-minute session of the season and accounted for 59.3% of their scoring for the game. Wake’s second-half surge allowed it to erase a 12-point halftime deficit and win by two.

The Hurricanes put up 45 second-half points to erase a six-point halftime deficit and win by one. Miami scored 57% of its points in the second half, and Miami’s after-intermission output was its sixth best scoring half of the season overall and second best in 16 halves of ACC play.

Caulton Tudor (N&O)
Wolfpack could emerge a better team

The best ACC basketball game of the season to this point ended Saturday in the PNC Arena with N.C. State losing a battle, but possibly winning a war.

Thanks to a game-winning, follow tip-in by Reggie Johnson in the final second, Miami (17-3, 8-0 ACC) left with a 79-78 win over the Wolfpack (16-6, 5-4).

But with Wolfpack point guard Lorenzo Brown sidelined by an injury, freshman Tyler Lewis came through with a performance that looked a lot more like Bobby Hurley than the seldom-used reserve N.C. State fans had seen in previous games.

“We’re a better team after tonight,” said fellow freshman Rodney Purvis, whose 70-foot desperation shot at the final horn almost changed the outcome.

“The way Tyler played in this game, we have to feel so great about our chances. He was amazing.”

Lewis, lightly recruited and lowly regarded by almost everyone except Wolfpack assistant coach Bob Lutz, finished with 16 points, five assists, only one turnover and two rebounds in 36 minutes.

Immediately after the game, Lewis left to join his family in mourning for his grandmother, Margie Lewis, who died Friday in Statesville.

Joe Giglio (N&O)
Three Points: Effort, endgame solutions and Tyler Lewis

1) What it takes

N.C. State played with a palpable intensity and desperation on Saturday in a game, arguably for the first time all season, it wasn’t supposed to win. These two points are obviously connected.

N.C. State should be, as coach Mark Gottfried put it, heartbroken after Reggie Johnson’s tip-in with 0.8 seconds left gave Miami a 79-78 win but the Wolfpack should not be discouraged.

John Wooden espoused prioritizing the process over the results and this was that type of game for N.C. State. The result doesn’t diminish the effort. Sometimes you lose because the other team makes the last play and sometimes you lose but you learn about the effort and passion it takes to win.

There’s the potential for the latter for N.C. State from Saturday’s loss. To put it another way, if N.C. State had played with that intensity and purpose against Maryland or Wake Forest, it would be sitting at 7-2 in the ACC standings today, instead of 5-4.

The good part about learning such lessons is the earlier in the season you do, the better off you are. This game, an instant classic, felt like March and was played at high level. N.C. State was not capable of playing a game like this in November (see: Michigan). That’s the first step, now it must take another step and prove it can win a game like this.

The lesson comes too late to help N.C. State win this ACC regular-season title, but it could potentially serve the Wolfpack well in Greensboro and beyond.

Brett Friedlander (starnewsonline.com)
Final possession becomes a recurring Groundhog Day nightmare for N.C. State

It’s ironically fitting that the game was played on Groundhog Day, because just like Bill Murray in the movie of the same name N.C. State’s basketball misfortune became a recurring a recurring nightmare Saturday.

Two-and-a-half weeks ago at Maryland, Alex Len took advantage of a long rebound and the lack of a box out to tip in the basket that beat the Wolfpack with less than a second left.

This time the culprit was Miami’s Reggie Johnson.

In a play so similar that only Punxsutawney Phil could truly appreciate it, Johnson tipped in a Shane Larkin miss with 0.8 seconds remaining to give the Hurricanes a 79-78 victory at PNC Arena.

The dramatic – and familiar – finish spoiled an inspired effort by backup point guard Tyler Lewis while dropping preseason ACC favorite State four full games behind unbeaten Miami in the league standings.

The Wolfpack has now lost four ACC games, to Maryland, Wake Forest, Virginia and now Miami, by a combined total of seven points.

“But this one,” freshman guard Rodney Purvis said, “seemed to hurt more.

“Don’t get me wrong, every game is equal. But I hate to lose at home in front of our fans. This would have been a huge win. It would have made a mark for us, not having (injured point guard Lorenzo Brown) in.”

Andrew Jones (FoxSportsCarolinas.com)
Miami’s comeback gives fans a classic

Either team could have won, and quite frankly, this was a rare case in which both squads deserved to win. But the older, wiser club prevailed.

“Experience is a word we hear a lot — a lot of people comment on our age. But it’s been very valuable for us,” Miami forward Julian Gamble said. “Me being a sixth-year senior and being in the ACC for as long as I have and going through the things I’ve gone through, and with D. Scott being here for four years and having the amount of experience, he has really helped us.

“It helped us stay poised and helped us stay calm.”

The ebb and flow of the game included a series of adjustments made by both coaching staffs. Initially, Miami’s maturity, which includes four senior starters and a senior as the first man off the bench, knocked State back a bit. But once Lewis entered the game and gained confidence after making a few plays, the rest of the Pack caught his contagious vibe and picked up their play.

WRALSportsfan.com
Purvis: This one seemed to hurt more

NC State guard Rodney Purvis said that after their fourth ACC loss by three points or less, the one to Miami hurt more because it was at home.

WRALSportsfan.com
Lewis: I had to take advantage of the opportunity

NC State guard Tyler Lewis scored 16 points in a loss to Miami Saturday and afterwards said he was just trying to take advantage of an opportunity.

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118 Responses to State loses to Miami (Sunday Morning Update: Headlines)

  1. Khan 02/02/2013 at 9:10 PM #

    Clutch is an important missed free throw. It’s a stupid foul. It’s two back to back turn overs. It’s not boxing out. 5 minutes out, you can come back. Within about a minute out, it’s much harder.

    Yeah, UM made a run and we came back. Awesome. We still lost at the end. Unfortunately, the end is what matters.

  2. Wulfpack 02/02/2013 at 9:19 PM #

    I would not describe Leslie as “clutch”. He did make a really stupid play that hurt us late. He is a fantastic player but sometimes he does some really stupid stuff. You would expect that to improve with experience but I am not seeing it. You can’t put that exchange on Gott. What the heck is he supposed to do?

  3. wolfpack2002 02/02/2013 at 9:58 PM #

    4 losses, a combined 7 points. wow

  4. ryebread 02/02/2013 at 10:14 PM #

    I didn’t see the game, but I think we’re going to be just fine. Lewis’ stat line is really all I need to see. The kid is ready. He just needs some reps.

    We’ll be a much, much better team for this tough stretch. When Brown comes back, we’ll be ready to go.

  5. Packster 02/02/2013 at 10:55 PM #

    Hate you missed it ryebread. It was a GREAT game. We played bad for 1 minute. The rest of the game was amazing.

  6. sjmac11 02/02/2013 at 11:06 PM #

    Wow what a bunch of optimistic lexapro taking spineless people.

    We are not that good….obviously

    TJ Warren, not happy….bad=transfer

    In one year, we…STATEFANSNATION will collectively turn on the coach we thought was our savior, wait and see.

    Tyler Lewis my friend…..WHAT A FU*KING GAME!!!!!! THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  7. nouveau wolf 02/02/2013 at 11:19 PM #

    I went nuclear after the Wake game. My wife told me she wouldn’t watch the UNx game with me, that I got too worked up.

    The more I thought about it, I realized I needed to look at the big picture. If anyone had told me the day Gott was hired that we would go to the sweet 16 and the next year (with a top 10 recruit class) would beat Carolina and Duke (at least once); we would lose our conference games by less than a basket, and almost certainly be headed for the tourney again, while fielding another top 10 recruiting class(and inroads on the next one), I would have been thrilled.

    Let’s reserve the ledge reservations. I’m happy most seem to feel the same.

  8. triadwolf 02/02/2013 at 11:24 PM #

    In the simplest terms, we lost today because we play 3 freshman. But…we were in the game and every other game this season because of those same 3 freshman. We’ll be OK, but everyone needs to step it up a little to make sure we aren’t left bouncing around on bubble.

  9. DC_wolf 02/03/2013 at 1:21 AM #

    SF, that’s 4 league games by a combined 7 points… but who’s counting? ; )

  10. ShavlikLeague 02/03/2013 at 3:55 AM #

    Only reason Johnson has a chance to tip that miss in…a two-handed push-off in Howell’s back. We put ourselves in that position with the two turnovers, missed FT front-end, shot, true…but it was still a pretty good shove in the back.

  11. GAWolf 02/03/2013 at 6:45 AM #

    I’ve perused most of the internet conversation and have seen a lot of griping and cliff diving. I’ve also seen some optimism. There are tons of questions.

    One thing I haven’t seen asked, though, is why on earth did we not hold the ball on the last legitimate possession to the end of the shot clock?

    I don’t have a beef so much with the shot selection of Tyler shooting the jumper. I think we could have done better, but if that was the call to avoid a silly turnover like in the possessions just prior then so be it.

    However, had Tyler waited 7 more seconds to shoot that shot Miami would have had 3 seconds to get the rebound, get it down court, and get a shot off. Minus a prayer being answered for Miami, we win.

    I’m happy with where are program is just two years into Gott’s tenure and I’m not freaking out, but good gracious we have some pretty bad end of game coaching. As much as our young team needs to improve, our newly meshing coaching staff has some room for improvement in clutch situations as well.

    We have two games we could have easily won with better play calling at the end. This one and the no-foul-Maryland debacle.

    If our players are going to make knuckleheaded plays at the end, the coaching staff best learn to be there to pick them up.

    The *positive* here is that with a little learning from mistakes, we can take huge strides by tournament time.

    The *negative* is if we don’t learn some lessons pretty quickly, we’re going to be needing a ridiculous ACC Tourney run to make the NCAAs. That’s absurd given the talent we have on this team.

    I know this is going to draw some ire from some, but our end-of-game lead losses are becoming Sendekian. I remember needing 10 point leads going into the last 2 minutes to have any chance at all of winning. The same seems true now. That’s concerning.

  12. PackBacker 2002 02/03/2013 at 6:53 AM #

    First off, we have lost our 4 ACC games by combined 7 points, not 9. This hurts a little more.

    Secondly, NOBODY CARES ABOUT THE REGULAR SEASON CHAMPIONSHIP. Nobody remembers who won it. As the Gottfather said on College Game Day, we just need to be playing the best we can in March.

    I feel the team is learning a lot from the past four losses, and to boot we have a hell of a backup point gaurd in Lewis!

  13. Rick 02/03/2013 at 7:08 AM #

    “Yeah, it’s a home loss. It will almost certainly be our only home loss of the season, by one point at the buzzer without Zo. Seriously…when was our last undefeated home season? I don’t recall ever doing it. Hardly a damning statement that we failed to do something for the first time in 30+ years. IMHO”

    The monkey board is in full melt down mode.
    I see some negatives but there are also a lot of positives.
    IMO we are well ahead of the curve on what I thought Gott would do at State.

  14. Wulfpack 02/03/2013 at 7:42 AM #

    GAWolf, there is very little debate that Gott’s late game coaching is not a strength. He is going to start hearing it big time if this keeps up. We have incredible talent, but it needs some direction/focus when it is all on the line.

    The other thing I am starting to wonder is, in regards to the bench, why did it take a Lo Brown injury to see what Lewis has to offer? I know Lewis didn’t do much with his limited opportunities up until yesterday. But my God, that kid can play some basketball. Hope he sees it now. If he doesn’t, he will hear that, too. Nothing against Zo but from an efficiency standpoint, it isn’t even close.

  15. bill.onthebeach 02/03/2013 at 7:42 AM #

    I with foose and Rick and others on the positive side of the outcome…

    close game that on paper had no business being close…and the ball just doesn’t bounce our way at the end…

    How long before we see this starting lineup…

    WBS, LO, Cuz, Richard and CALVIN ???

    I think that might be the magic combination we have been looking for…..

  16. Wolfman 9806 02/03/2013 at 8:01 AM #

    Abandon ship, she’s going down!

  17. GAWolf 02/03/2013 at 8:13 AM #

    To have any shot of making a tournament run, even in the ACC, we need more depth given the pace of play we prefer. Lorenzo needs breathers, and this game certainly showed that with a little confidence Tyler can provide that.

    We’re still hurting from Painter not being around to do the same for the big men. Vandy is about a year or two away from being quality depth. He’s improving, but more time is needed for him to provide depth at the level of our current starters.

  18. budfox88 02/03/2013 at 8:52 AM #

    Bad call on the last timeout, pack was building on a spark of confidence and wood and lewis had the game!

  19. JohnGalt78 02/03/2013 at 9:11 AM #

    Interesting how all “us” Pack fans saw two different games. Perhaps some of us see what we want to see. Maybe I am. But, I’ll say it again, we played a great, great game…gave great effort…played hard, with guts….never gave up….did this without the best point guard in the ACC. Its a crying shame we were not rewarded with a win. I was proud as hell of our guys.

    Conversely, recall the A-hole, doughboy from Miami after the game…..taunting the fans at all four sides of the court. Winning without class or grace. Nothing there to be proud of unless you’re a gangbanger thug.

  20. BJD95 02/03/2013 at 9:29 AM #

    IIRC, there was a 9.7 second difference between shot and game clock. Not sure how much we gain from holding it longer. WBS got a good look. 5-6 seconds later, maybe he doesn’t.

    As a coach, MG is VERY similar to Ol’ Roy. Given how much success the latter has had, I will live with the downside (not an X and O in-game master). I’m happy to be both good and watchable.

    Why didn’t WBS get a chance earlier? He wasn’t showing much with the minutes he received, and the games were too close to be too experimental. The light switch flipped, and he rose to the occasion. I am more concerned about keeping that spark going forward rather than lamenting the past.

    When Zo comes back (I think/hope against Clemson), he will not be ready to start right back playing 37 mpg. So WBS will get 15ish minutes, at least. Then as Zo gets healthier, we will see them on the court together more and more.

    This will allow Warren to play more minutes down low, and hopefully give us a more solid, interchangeable 7-man rotation. With WBS playing the part of AJ last year (which was a crucial role).

    What worries me most about Duke is that they will press. Hard. Perhaps Zo’s best attribute is that you can’t press him. He will slice you wide open, seemingly without much effort.

  21. Lumpy 02/03/2013 at 9:37 AM #

    I gotta be honest, I feel horrible about yesterday’s loss. We really needed that win. I couldn’t figure out why it was bothering me so much until GA Wolf just said it. Why didn’t we hold the ball? Those decisions have really added up. Four games have slipped through our fingers. Four. I’mhopeful that we can go on a run, but facts are facts, We are 2-4 since beating Duke, and only two of those games have been played without Brown.
    The fatal flaw with this team is their defense. They’re fast, so they get a lot of steals, and they rebound well. But when it comes to team defense, they cannot stop teams from getting the shots they want or denying opponents best scorers the ball in crunch time. Until that changes, and with teams like Clemson and Florida State in every game do or die situations to make the dance, we are in for a lot of nail biters down the stretch.
    I like this team. I love watching them play. But I am worried at this point about their tournament prospects.

  22. coach13 02/03/2013 at 10:11 AM #

    This is where the bullshit losses like Wake Forest Really start to hurt. Could probably throw in Md and Va too. These guys have to start taking all games as serious as the “big” ones. They are all big.

  23. TheCOWDOG 02/03/2013 at 10:12 AM #

    I don’t think many will buy this, but if Woo continues the Casper impersonation, this team ain’t got a prayer down the line.

    They need a dozen shots from that guy. Not 7 over the last 3 losses. 5 yesterday…5?

    And couple that with zero FTA.

    Just think it over.

    BTW I thought Gottfried coached his ass off.
    Might have been a little tardy with the zone for my liking, but got to it in the nick of time, nonetheless

  24. Deacon Blues 02/03/2013 at 10:24 AM #

    I wanted to sleep on it, but even after a night that was the worst handling of end of game situation I have seen in a long time. What was CJL’S thinking trying to ensure he go the last free throws when Tyler and Scott are both much better from the line. What was Tyler thinking throwing up that prayer and why do we always get sloppy late, where is the killer instinct.

    We are better than Miami, no question.

    I hat that this season will be defined by the end of season tournament results. Hope we don’t catch a bad matchup with teams or ref and fin ourselves booted early from either tournament.

  25. Deacon Blues 02/03/2013 at 10:27 AM #

    Why can I not edit on my iPad? Frustrating….

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