Haynes: Pack Ends Regular Season at Miami

BY TONY HAYNES

Raleigh, N.C. If momentum is truly a reliable precursor of how a college basketball game will turn out, then NC State should have a pretty good chance of ending its regular season with a win when it plays at Miami on Saturday at noon.

But as longtime fans of ACC basketball understand, there’s really no such thing as a reliable forecast in a league that has bountiful balance this season.

Once thought to be a shoe-in for the NCAA Tournament, the slumping Hurricanes (16-11, 6-9) have dropped seven of their last 10 games since getting off to an impressive 14-4 start. NC State (16-12, 6-9), on the other hand, is a respectable 5-5 in the ACC since dropping three of its first four league games.

Regardless of Saturday’s outcome, both teams seemed destined for the postseason NIT barring an improbable run through next week’s ACC Tournament in Atlanta.

Still, it’s clear that the Wolfpack is riding an uptick, while the Canes are fizzling fast.

“I think it says a lot about our team in terms of where we are now compared to where we were when we started,” said NC State head coach Sidney Lowe. “The guys have been battling. Now we want to go get another win. We know that if we do the things we know we can do then we can win.”

Still, because of tie-breakers, the best NC State can do is a 9^th place finish in the final regular season standings. A loss on Saturday would leave the Pack as the number 10 seed in next week’s tournament.

Wednesday’s 74-69 victory over Boston College at the RBC Center was perhaps NC State’s most solid effort of the year. Along with shooting 53 percent from the field, the Wolfpack also outrebounded the Eagles (30-26) and turned the ball over only nine times.

But the night was far from perfect: early in the second half, senior guard Courtney Fells limped off the floor after suffering a groin injury. If Fells can’t go on Saturday, Lowe will be missing the very same player who tallied a career-high 24 points in the Pack’s 84-81 overtime victory over Miami back on January 27^th.

An NC State bench that has consistently produced quality minutes through much of the ACC season may be asked to do even more if indeed Fells does miss some time. On Wednesday, freshman guard C.J. Williams, junior forward Dennis Horner (11 points, five rebounds) and senior swingman Simon Harris got the job done once again.

“C.J. was ready, Simon was ready and Dennis was ready,” said NC State center Ben McCauley. “You’ve got to give those guys credit. Sure it’s tough to lose a senior leader, but guys rallied around Courtney and played well for us.”

On Saturday, Miami figures to rally around its seniors who will be playing their last regular season home game at Bank United Center. Among those seniors will be sharpshooting guard Jack McClinton, who had an off night in Wednesday’s 78-68 loss at Georgia Tech. Averaging 19.5 points for the season, the All-America candidate was held to 13 points, hitting just 3-of-12 shots from the floor, including 1-of-7 from 3-point range.

Amazingly, Miami lost despite its dominance on the boards. Holding a commanding 48-26 rebounding advantage, the Hurricanes grabbed 26 offensive rebounds compared to only three for the Yellow Jackets. With 71 total shots, the Canes had 26 more from the field....and still lost.

Miami was done in by its own 32 percent shooting from the field and a career 30-point outburst by Georgia Tech’s ultra-streaky Lewis Clinch.

Saturday’s game could turn out to be a special homecoming for NC State point guard Javier Gonzalez, a native of Carolina, Puerto Rico who played his high school basketball at Krop High School in Miami. Gonzalez told reporters after the B.C. contest that he had been saving money for several months in hopes of flying his mother in from Puerto Rico to watch him play college basketball for the first time on Saturday.

If Gonzalez can play as well against Miami as he did against Boston College, his mother will certainly enjoy her first taste of ACC basketball.

Not only did Gonzalez harass Boston College’s star guard Tyrese Rice on the defensive end of the floor most of the night, he also chipped in with five points, five rebounds, six assists, only one turnover and two steals.

North Carolina State University Athletics

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