State Survives, As Lowe Escapes with his Job

On an odd night for ACC hoops, where two conference teams lost to mid-major opponents, and five others escaped upset-bids, NC State found themselves gridlocked with MEAC opponent, Delaware State. Tied at 70 with 37 seconds to go, the Pack broke from a timeout. Now for most teams, this would be the part where a set play was executed to get an open shot or easy look- but the Wolfpack (7-4) aren't like most teams.

The Pack's inability to execute set plays- or even move around without the ball on offense has frustrated fans to no end through their first 11 games. The offense has often consisted of one man trying to beat his man one-on-one while the other four stand around and watch.

Such was the case as the Pack took the floor for the final half minute Wednesday night. Freshman guard Lorenzo Brown drove one-on-one to the basket against his man, then passed to fellow freshman guard Ryan Harrow who was standing in the corner. Harrow put up a contested three-pointer that clanged hard off the rim and fell right into the arms of sophomore forward Scott Wood. Wood, State's sharp-shooter, was scoreless to this point of the game at 0-6 from the floor, and 0-5 from three-point land, put up a leaning shot from the elbow that went in with 2.1 seconds to go.

After a time-out to check the clock, Delaware State inbounded the ball under their own basket. They got the ball into the arms of guard Jay Threatt, who took four dribbles and let fly a shot from 45 feet away that was perfectly online.

I'll stop the story right here for a moment. Surely, Pack fans remember Florida's Chandler Parsons heaving a 75-foot prayer of a game-winner against the Pack last season- on this same court. That shot ended what was an exciting over-time thriller, and arguably the greatest ending to a game the RBC Center has seen in its ten years of existence. Many Pack fans, along with players and coaches appeared nervous when Delaware State set up to inbound the ball in the final seconds.

Threatt's shot appeared to be right on target as started to fall toward the basket. Luckily for State head coach Sidney Lowe, this one hit the rim and bounced out. Sealing a win for the Pack, who may not have deserved it.

"I was thinking, 'Oh, Lord, don't do this to me again,'" said Lowe in a post-game interview.

Lowe's job seems to be in question at the moment. As Pack fan's continue to be displeased with the performance- and hustle, they have seen from the team so far this season. There has just been a lack of effort out of the Pack so far this season. Possibly from frustration of losing to all four BCS conference opponents to this point- and only being real competitive with two of them, or the loss of star forward Tracy Smith to a knee injury that has sidelined him since the second game of the season. Whatever the reason, the Pack need to work their way out of this.

The Pack's early-season frustration was evident during the second half as highly-ranked freshman C.J. Leslie received a technical foul for mouthing off to an official after a touch-foul was called on him. The looks on the faces of some of the State players- and particularly Coach Lowe's, said it all. This season, to this point at least, has not lived up to the hype.

With 20 games left, and not a single conference game under their wing yet, there is lots of time left for this team to improve. First off, Tracy Smith should be back soon. He was expected to see time back on December 4th against Syracuse- but hasn't dressed out for a game since his knee injury on November 18th.

Sidney Lowe's teams have shown improvement throughout the season in each of his first four years in Raleigh, and with the talent this team has on it's roster, that improvement could mean big things. But they'll need big things if they want Lowe to return next season, as first-year Athletic Director Debbie Yow is a no non-sense boss, who will not accept the mediocrity that occurred during former AD Lee Fowler's tenure at State.

The Pack will hit the floor next at home against the Alabama A&M Bulldogs of the SWAC December 28th. I'd expect to see a little more hustle out of the Pack- but then again I've expected to see this ever since they got embarassed by Wisconsin three weeks ago. Here's to hoping we see Tracy Smith, hustle, and better free-throw shooting for the Pack next week, for for now, I'd settle for just one of the three areas to improve.