The one where N.C. State almost lost to Elon
Posted by D.Medlin on December 18, 2009
At least it was almost. Could’ve been a lot worse.
Thursday’s performance against Elon was obviously not what Sidney Lowe or the few thousand in attendance at the RBC Center wanted to see, but it is surely what they were forced to watch. A back and forth affair that saw the Wolfpack down six at halftime.
But the Wolfpack rallied, hitting some key shots late and making its free throws down the stretch to keep Elon just far enough from striking distance. Tracy Smith and Dennis Horner led the Pack once again, with 21 and 23 points respectively. The Horner/Smith show is fast becoming a trend, and I’m fine with that. I’d rather the N.C. State work from the inside-out anyway so getting both of those guys multiple touches is huge. Another difference in Thursday night’s game was rebounding as the Wolfpack used its size advantage to take home a seven rebound advantage.
It’s obvious that N.C. State played like complete crap Thursday night, but the facts remain. A win is a win. I would rather see the Wolfpack play like crap and win against a mediocre team like Elon than play like crap against Wake Forest or Arizona and get beat by 20. It’s a completely different feeling to play like crap and still win the game. Hopefully Coach Lowe can use what happened last night in preparation for this weekend’s matchup with Wake Forest in Winston-Salem.
Here’s the box.
