NC State
North Carolina
TIM PEELER: Wolfpack Hopes to Learn From Lop-sided Loss
2/22/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 22, 2006
BY TIM PEELER
RALEIGH - From the first day of the season, NC State coach Herb Sendek said that he likes his basketball team because of its character and its chemistry.
And over the course of the season, as the Wolfpack suffered its first five losses, Sendek was happy with the way his team responded. All year long, the Wolfpack has not lost two games in a row.
So, while there is nothing good that can really come out of Wednesday night's 95-71 loss to North Carolina at the RBC Center, it will be the biggest test of the Wolfpack's team character to see if it can learn from the embarrassing home loss. State plays its regular-season home finale Saturday against Boston College, before traveling to Wake Forest the next weekend for the regular-season finale. The Wolfpack needs to win its final two games to assure itself the No. 2 seed in next month's ACC Tournament.
"We have to turn a negative into a positive," said fifth-year senior Ilian Evtimov. "Now, there is a team tied with us in the loss column of the ACC standings. How are we going to respond to that?
"We have two games left in the regular season. Are we going to fold, like a lot of teams would, or are we going to bounce back and win the next two games and finish second in the ACC?"
That's more of a plot twist than the Wolfpack really wanted at this point in the season, but it is the reality of the situation.
One thing the Wolfpack (21-6 overall, 10-4 ACC) has to lean on is its recent history.
Last year, when faced with numerous illnesses and injuries, the Wolfpack bounced back after losing 8 of its first 11 ACC games and advanced to the semifinals of the ACC Tournament and the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament, a strong bounce-back for a team that suffered through a lot of physical problems.
Two years ago, when the Wolfpack finished second in the ACC standings, it had two late league losses and never really recovered, especially after losing senior Scooter Sherrill to an ankle injury.
Three years ago, a team that lost seven of its last 12 regular-season games came back to reach the ACC Tournament finals.
Four years ago, a team that lost five of its last nine regular-season games did the same thing, and nearly beat defending national champion Connecticut in the NCAA Tournament.
"We have to regroup," said Evtimov, who has been a part of all four of those previously mentioned teams. "Everybody is down right now. We know we didn't play well. North Carolina just whipped us. It's going to take some character for us to make this quick turnaround before we play Boston College."
Sendek's biggest concern about the loss was his team's lack of effort, especially in the second half. North Carolina owned the boards, winning the rebounding war 43-26. The Tar Heel defense prevented the Wolfpack from making a single 3-point shot in the second half. UNC met every situation that might have gotten the Wolfpack in the game, with a devastating basket against a defense that lacked the effort Sendek expects from his players.
During one stretch, after the Wolfpack cut North Carolina's lead to 10 points, the Tar Heels made 10 of their next 11 shots.
"I don't think we played with the kind of effort we needed to have tonight," Sendek said. "I don't have any idea why."
But instead of dwelling on why it happened, the Wolfpack players say their next challenge - perhaps its biggest of the season - is figuring out how to make sure it doesn't happen again.
"We have done a good job of bouncing back all year long," said junior Engin Atsur, who matched sophomore Andrew Brackman's 16 points for the team high. "That is what we have to do now.
"We have to look ourselves in the mirror, figure out what we did wrong, learn from our mistakes and not repeat them on Saturday. It was really nothing technical. It was about the effort that was missing tonight."
As hard as that lesson may be, there are games remaining to learn from.
"It's a good time for this to happen, such an embarrassing loss against a big rival," Evtimov said. "Better now than in the post-season."
