Peggy Boone
Sidney Lowe has insisted all season the men’s basketball team isn’t the same one that went to the ACC Tournament championship game last season. But one thing hasn’t changed from 2007 for the second-year coach’s team: N.C. State still has Virginia Tech’s number.
State (15-7, 4-4 ACC) beat the Hokies 73-63 Tuesday at the RBC Center, continuing a trend after beating Tech (14-9, 5-4) three times a season ago. Lowe said he can’t explain how his team has won its last four games against Tech.
“I’m not sure why,” Lowe said. “I’m glad that we have.”
Redshirt sophomore forward Brandon Costner didn’t play because of a bruised rib, but the team still jumped out to a 27-8 lead with 5:36 left in the first half, a lead it would not relinquish as Virginia Tech would never come closer than five points the rest of the game.
“It’s a great feeling to know that we could finally come out in the first half and get a big lead and hold it,” sophomore forward Dennis Horner said.
While the team led throughout and won by 10, players still saw room for improvement. State turned the ball over 22 times, including 12 after halftime. The Hokies were able to cut the deficit to single digits on a few occasions in the second half.
Freshman point guard Javier Gonzalez, who had 11 points, five rebounds, three assists and three turnovers, said the team let up.
“We kind of relaxed because we had a 14-point lead. We were turning the ball over,” Gonzalez said. “We were being lazy on offense and defense.”
Freshman center J.J. Hickson, who scored 21 points, including 13 from the free throw line, also said the team “celebrated too early.” But overall, he liked what he saw.
“I’m loving this team right now. We’re playing together as a team and trusting in what coach says,” Hickson said. “The sky’s the limit for us.”
Meanwhile, the luxury of not having to stand up the whole game because it wasn’t as close as other recent ACC contests was not lost on Lowe.
“It felt good to be able to sit,” the coach said. “It really did.”
Earlier this season, players heard plenty of questions about the team’s unity. But according to Hickson, any early-season jealousy or problems of division are behind the team.
“This team is playing with good chemistry right now. Everybody’s trusting each other,” Hickson said. “We’re swinging the ball, having fun. That’s what it’s all about.”
After an 0-2 start to conference play with road losses at North Carolina and Clemson, the team is back to .500 at 4-4 in the ACC. But Hickson cautioned against the team getting too thrilled with where it is at this point in the season.
“You can call it a roll or whatever you want to call it, but like I said, it’s the ACC. And you can beat a team one night and lose the next night,” he said. “So we’ve got to keep our head and stay focused.”
Even with the nature of the ACC, Lowe remains confident as he tries to keep his team taking a “one at a time” approach to conference games.
“We’re sitting in a good situation. We’ve fought our way back to .500. We talked about when we were 2-4 that if we win that Wake Forest game, we’ll have a chance to bump up a notch or two. And then come back and get Virginia Tech, and we can move up again,” Lowe said. “Now we go to Maryland, and we’ll just keep climbing.”