On the heels of a three-game winning streak that saw NC State beat then-No. 10 UNC-Chapel Hill in the Dean Dome, and an 18-point home win over Notre Dame, the NC State men’s basketball team has now dropped two games in a row.

The Wolfpack (16-9, 6-6 ACC) dropped a road game against Virginia Tech, 85-75, on Wednesday in a game that saw the Wolfpack keep trying to creep back into the game after trailing by as many as 18 points in the second half.

On Saturday, the Wolfpack lost a close home game against the Tar Heels, 96-89.  NC State led by as many as 9 points in the first half, but UNC closed out the half on a 7-0 run to cut the deficit to 2, and the Tar Heels quickly took the lead in the second half and never looked back.

After peaking at fifth in the ACC standings, NC State now sits in eighth place and is hoping to finish out the season strong in order to keep its tournament hopes alive.  Here are four takeaways from the Wolfpack’s last two games:

Markell Johnson seems to be the only player capable of creating shots for teammates.

In each of the last two games, sophomore guard Markell Johnson has had more assists than the rest of the team combined; against Virginia Tech, Johnson had 10 assists to the rest of the team’s seven, and against UNC, Johnson picked up nine assists with the rest of the team garnering just eight.

Johnson has emerged as one of the best point guards in the ACC, but the Wolfpack will need guards Al Freeman, Torin Dorn and Braxton Beverly to pick up some of the playmaking duties when Johnson is on the bench or is ineffective.

Torin Dorn is officially the Tobacco Road Killer.

Dorn, a senior guard from Charlotte has had his three best games of ACC play against NC State’s biggest rivals, Duke and UNC.  

Dorn led the Wolfpack past then-No. 2 Duke at home earlier this season, scoring 16 points on 55 percent shooting from the field. What Wolfpack fans will likely remember forever, was Dorn’s game-clinching, and-1 3-pointer he hit in the final minutes of the game to propel the Wolfpack past Duke.

In the first matchup against UNC, Dorn scored 20 points on 53 percent shooting to go along with four rebounds and three assists. In the same game, Dorn also hit a season-high four 3-pointers on seven attempts.

On Saturday against the Heels, Dorn one-upped his previous performance. Dorn scored 21 points on 67 percent shooting and was a terror for the Tar Heels on the defensive end, nabbing three steals and helping force the Tar Heels into 19 turnovers.

Defense needs to step up if the Wolfpack wants to go dancing.

NC State’s defense has struggled as of late, allowing 85 points to Virginia Tech and 96 to UNC in what has been a season-long trend.

The Wolfpack defense was only able to force Virginia Tech into 11 turnovers on Wednesday and allowed guard Justin Robinson to explode for 32 points on just 17 shots. The Hokies shot over 63 percent from the field as a team and took the Wolfpack to school inside the 3-point line, shooting 71 percent from inside the arc.

UNC forward Luke Maye took his turn abusing the Wolfpack on Saturday, scoring a career-high 33 points, 27 of which came in a second half that saw NC State allow 61 points.  UNC had its way with NC State, shooting 56 percent from the field and 36 percent from the 3-point line.  If not for the Wolfpack forcing the Tar Heels into 19 turnovers, UNC likely would have put up 100 on the Pack.

Yurtseven not playing up to his size

Sophomore center Omer Yurtseven struggled on the boards against Virginia Tech and the Tar Heels to the tune of just five rebounds per game for the 7-footer from Turkey.

Yurtseven has never been the most prolific rebounder, and this problem reared its ugly head in a big way on Saturday against the Tar Heels. Yurtseven mustered just five rebounds, only one of which came on the offensive glass, and was constantly pushed around by Maye and forward Theo Pinson.

Maye dominated Yurtseven on the glass in the Wolfpack’s loss to the Tar Heels, bullying Yurtseven for 17 rebounds, eight of which were offensive rebounds. Maye was consistently able to box out Yurtseven for easy offensive boards, leading to second-chance opportunities for the Tar Heels.

The Wolfpack is going to need Yurtseven to play up to his size and assert himself on the glass if it wants to make a run in the ACC Tournament or the NCAA Tournament.