Wolfpack fall short against Wake

NC State fell short last night against a hungry and angry Wake Forest team, 85-78. NC State was down by as much as 15 points in the first half, when they decided they wanted to show up and play, halftime score was 43-35 Wake Forest.

What’s going right?

• Point guard play is shaping up, Javi and Degand combined for 20 points but had 5 turnovers combined.
• Surprising NC State only committed 8 turnovers all game, which is well below our average.
• Tracy Smith gets mentioned again, amazing play against Wake with 18 points and 4 rebounds.
• Horner played great against Wake with 10 points and 6 rebounds in 22 minutes.

What’s going wrong?

• Costner and McCauley have been quite, for about 3 straight games now. They need to step up there play in the final 3 games and in the ACC tournament.
• Second chances points killed us again, Wake had 18 second chance points, we have got to get defensive rebounds.

What’s Next?
Overall I am really happy with NC State’s playing as of late and excited for an NIT or possible NCAA tournament birth. Nearly coming out of Wake Forest with a win is a huge feat of its own this year, now we just need to take care of Maryland and BC at home. Miami doesn’t have too big of a fan base so that away game shouldn’t be too big of a threat. Looks like the starting lineup will remain Costner, McCauley, Smith, Fells and Javi for the Maryland game on Sunday night in the RBC Center. NC State will be looking for there 6th win in ACC play against a rising Maryland team who just shut down UNC last week. The Wolfpack will need to be able to hold Vasquez, who leads there team in points per game,rebounds,assists, free throw percentage and steals. Not going to be easy, but another game to test Lowe’s ability to control the play maker.

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