North Carolina State University Athletics
PEELER: Lowe Looking for Lessons Learned
12/30/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
BY TIM PEELER
RALEIGH, N.C. After watching back-to-back games decided at the buzzer, NC State coach Sidney Lowe will be looking to see if his team has learned some lessons in its last two games, the first a last second-loss to Marquette and the second a last-second victory over Loyola.
The games were quite different in how they played out, of course. The Pack stayed with the once-ranked Golden Eagles, but gave up a game-winning 3-pointer because of a missed defensive assignment. Monday night, Lowe’s team had a 16-point lead late in the second half against the Greyhounds, but allowed the visitors to twice get within one point before successfully defending a final possession that could have resulted in another game-winner.
“That would have been devastating,” said senior Ben McCauley, who had a team-high 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Wolfpack (8-2). “But we got what we came for -- a win. We can learn a lot from this. Sure, it wasn’t a blowout like some of our past games at home, but ... we learned what we have to do to win a game that is tight like that.”
Wednesday, Lowe’s team will see what it learned in a New Year’s Eve contest against Towson, slated to begin at 2 p.m. at the RBC Center. Primarily, the coach wants his team to learn how to finish off a beaten opponent, something that was a main focus two years ago in his inaugural season with the Pack. The game is available on ACC Select.
“This is a funny game,” Lowe said following Monday’s 62-60 victory over Loyola. “It’s a game of runs. And you certainly know that if you are the team making mistakes, you guarantee the other team is going to go on some runs to get back in the game.
“How do we handle it? That’s where the maturity and learning comes in. That last play at the end of the game, we showed we know how to win by coming up with the big play. Now, what we have to do is show that we can secure a lead and keep it.”
Towson (5-7) is playing its 13th game before the New Year, so it’s not a team that the Wolfpack can take lightly. This is the fourth meeting between the two teams, though the last game was nearly 20 years ago. State has won all three contests, all of which were played in Raleigh.
Lowe, who pieced together a lineup without injured former starters Trevor Ferguson and Javi Gonzalez, will closely monitor senior Courtney Fells in Tuesday’s practice and Wednesday’s early shoot-around. Fells experienced some severe pain in his injured ankle during a post-Christmas practice and was slated to sit out the Loyola game.
Fells missed the pre-game shoot-around but made the decision to play just before tip-off. He ended up scoring 11 points in his 35 minutes of action, but Lowe will have to see if the senior is able to make the quick turnaround for a game some 40 hours after the end of the Loyola game.
Both Gonzalez and Ferguson are also still likely to be out of action, which means the coach will have to continue tinkering with his lineup as the team prepares for the meat of its season in January.
Lowe is also a little concerned with McCauley’s confidence at the free throw line. McCauley leads the team in scoring and just recorded his fourth double-double of the season after having none last year but he was just four of 10 from the free throw line, one game after missing two late free throws that could have secured a lead against Marquette.
“I think it is a little bit of a mental thing right now,” McCauley said. “My free throws were just bad. Getting better there is going to be key, not only for me, but for the team. I have got to make my free throws.”
So McCauley, who hit nearly 75 percent of his free throws last season, spent much of Tuesday’s practice shooting from the line, hoping to regain his confidence.
Following Wednesday’s game, the Wolfpack hits the road for two important road games, Saturday at Florida and next Saturday at Clemson in the ACC opener.
You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
