Warning: This article may contain repressed memories to be relived or cause post-traumatic State disorder which some readers may not enjoy.
We at TechSports asked our followers — and a few former editors — what they considered to be NC State’s most haunting games. This is what they said.
Men’s basketball 47-24 loss versus Virginia Tech
Nicholas Schnittker, Class of 2022 and former TechSports editor: “[This game] probably haunts everyone unfortunate enough to have seen it.”
Andrew Schnittker, Class of 2019 and former TechSports editor: “Hard to make someone understand what that was like to watch.”
It’s hard to put into perspective how bad of a loss this game was. Since the start of the shot clock era, no ranked team has ever put up fewer points in a game than NC State did on Feb. 2, 2019.
Coming off a game where it barely lost to No. 3 Virginia by one point in overtime, then-No. 23 NC State was in a great spot to earn a ranked win over No. 12 Virginia Tech, but instead put up one of the all-time offensive stinkers.
Scoring 14 points in the first half and 10 points in the second, the Wolfpack shot 9-54 from the field and 2-28 from three. A field goal percentage of 16.7 was the lowest the ACC had seen since its founding in 1953.
It’s never a good sign when a basketball score can be confused for a football score.
Football 43-35 loss at UNC-Chapel Hill
Brigmann Bailey, Class of 2003: “Lost to the holes on the punt return.”
When it comes to sports, no feeling on Earth is worse than when your team loses on the last play of the game, except maybe if it’s against your school’s biggest rival.
Running back Giovani Bernard’s 74-yard punt return against NC State in 2012 has been etched into Wolfpack fan’s brains forever. Despite quarterback Mike Glennon having a career day, throwing for 467 yards and five touchdowns, it wasn’t enough to best Bernard and the Tar Heels.
Bernard was virtually unstoppable, totalling 230 yards from scrimmage and two total touchdowns. His performance gave the Tar Heels their first win over the Pack in five years and their first since Tom O’Brien became head coach in 2007.
The punt return with 13 seconds left poured salt in the wound for State fans as a win in Chapel Hill was taken from them in mere seconds after the team held a 10-point lead going into the fourth quarter.
Men’s basketball 62-61 OT loss versus Florida
John Tart, Class of 2009: “As Parsons shoots, I’m in the stands about two rows back of the court and have the same angle as Parsons, it drops. We are devastated.”
If you’re a member of Gen Z and were into sports growing up, there’s a good chance you’ve seen this clip in a buzzer-beater compilation on YouTube without realizing it. From three-quarters-length down the court, Florida forward Chandler Parsons drilled a buzzer-beater to stun the Wolfpack fans inside then-PNC Arena.
The most gut-wrenching part is even if Parsons hit the shot from beyond half-court, the game could have gone to double overtime instead. With 2.6 seconds left on the clock, Pack guard Farnold Degand was sent to the line with NC State up one.
Making the first one, Degand rattled the second off the front of the rim and in less than three seconds, Parsons collected the rebound and swished the last-second heave. Had Degand made the second free throw, the game would’ve been tied and still given the Pack a chance to win in double overtime.
Women’s basketball 91-87 loss to UConn in Elite Eight
Hallie Walker, Class of 2024 and former Student Media photo editor: “[The game against] UConn when we were No. 1 but had to play UConn in Connecticut … broke my heart.”
Landon Hong, Class of 2025: “Robbed before the game even started, ended [a] special team that deserved a national championship.”
Less than a year removed from the NCAA expelling NC State baseball from the College World Series and NC State football’s bowl game being canceled — all due to Covid-related issues — the NCAA made another controversial decision. This time, it was aimed at NC State women’s basketball.
Coming off the best year in program history with a 32-4 total record and a 13-1 ACC record, the women’s basketball team did more than enough to earn a one-seed in the tournament. Placed in the Bridgeport region, it was all well until the NCAA revealed that UConn was the No. 2 seed in the same region.
Located approximately 80 miles from UConn’s campus, the Bridgeport venue was essentially a home game for the Huskies, who at the time had made the women’s Final Four for 13-consecutive years.
Despite the adversity placed on the team before the game had even started, the Wolfpack still battled, but ultimately came up short. Wolfpack wing Jakia Brown-Turner’s 3-pointer sent the game to double overtime but guard Paige Bueckers and the Huskies proved to be too much to handle.
It’s always disappointing when a team loses that late in the tournament, but even more so when there are questions regarding whether the game was played at a neutral location that could’ve changed the outcome.
Men’s basketball 69-61 loss versus Georgetown in Sweet 16
Scott Greenough, Class of 1990: “The travel call against Corchiani killed our tourney.”
“Nowhere near a walk,” said CBS analyst Billy Packer. “Should have been a good basket and a foul. No steps at all. Not even close!”
Maybe the most infamous call in NC State sports was Corchiani’s “travel” against Georgetown in the 1989 regional semi-final. With less than two minutes to go against Georgetown, Wolfpack guard Chris Corchiani drove to the basket and laid it in, drawing a foul on the way.
Except, according to referee Rick Hartzell, he took too many steps.
Packer fervently disagreed and Hartzell apologized later for the call, but that didn’t stop NC State fans from holding their resentment back. Wolfpack head coach Jim Valvano never made it back to the NCAA Tournament, coaching just one more year before being ousted from the University under controversial circumstances.
Some argue that if the phantom call against Corchiani wasn’t called, it would have changed the course of the men’s basketball program. But if’s are like ghosts — they’re real depending on who you ask.
