NC State 80, UNC 89
Boxscore |
RecapI heard on the radio before the game someone refer to playing NC State like playing Appalachian State in football. We expect to win so anything other than a W is a major disappointment. I feel the same. State has not been a program to be feared in many years. Tonight, they gave us a good run in the first half, but we were too much for them in the second.
Tyler Hansbrough played, well, like Tyler again. He's had a couple of rough games (figuratively and literally), but tonight he scored 20 points in the second half on his way to a game high 27 (in only 33 minutes). Ty Lawson was fabulous again with 9 assists and 1 turnover. He also scored 17 on 7-9 shooting. I really wish we could play Boston College and Wake Forest again now because I think Ty would play much better this time around. Tyler Zeller made his much anticipated return at the 8:30 mark in the first half. He scored 2 points, but had 4 fouls in 8 minutes. He ran the floor well...I'm sure it will just take time. Wayne Ellington and Danny Green had nice games going a combined 15 for 25 from the floor for 35 points.
As has been our MO this year, we came out firing on all cylinders in the second half. We had only 1 turnover in the second half and played better team ball. The game wasn't as close as the 9 point difference would indicate.
Coach Williams seemed a bit agitated for most of the game (mostly at the refs). The refs were pretty bad. They clearly missed a hack on Hansbrough which the replay clearly showed. They also missed an intentional foul on Hansbrough. In the post-game interview a reporter asked about us pressing and Roy dropped the f-bomb. Its all over the Internet now and people are making a huge deal out of it. I agree that Roy shouldn't get so agitated at journalists and fans (ie, his radio show) when they ask him questions, but sheesh, let's not blow this one incident out of proportion.
We continue to have a solid 2 game lead in the ACC with 4 games left in the regular season.
Next up is Maryland at the Comcast Center on Saturday. Maryland has to play UNC, Duke and Wake Forest over the next 4 games. UNC gets a week off after Maryland.
