When the men’s basketball team defeated Wake Forest 88-74 on Jan. 13, the game was the first ACC win for first-year coach Sidney Lowe.
Tonight at 9 p.m., Lowe’s N.C. State team (14-13, 4-10 ACC) will look to edge Wake Forest (13-14, 4-10) in the RBC Center as both teams look to avoid a last-place conference finish.
The two teams are tied with Miami for last place.
According to junior forward Gavin Grant, the team and coaching staff will not lack motivation as they look to send seniors Engin Atsur and Bryan Nieman off with a final home win. Grant said he particularly wants to win this one for Atsur, a four-year starter who has led the Wolfpack to the NCAA tournament in each of his three previous seasons.
“I’m solely playing this ball game for Engin,” Grant said. “I’m just going out there to work hard for him, just to show him that I appreciate him and what he’s done the past four years.”
Atsur’s senior night start will mark the 105th time he as started in a State uniform — the fourth-most in school history. Aside from the fact that Atsur’s 209 career 3-pointers rank him third in State history, his ability to quietly lead and coach on the floor has earned him tremendous respect from his teammates, according to Grant.
“The way he sees the game is on a coaching level,” Grant said. “Him and coach Lowe think alike in how to control the game [and] what tempo we need.”
Nieman also has become a fan favorite since his junior year transfer from Gulf Coast Community College. A former Wake Forest-Rolesville star, Nieman earned a scholarship this year and improved his scoring from just one point last season to 50 points this season.
According to Nieman, a win tonight is necessary not only for the seniors, but for the team morale.
“We’re optimistic,” Nieman said. “We know we’re still capable of doing some things. We definitely want to win out and finish above .500 and definitely make some noise in the ACC tournament. I still don’t feel like we’re that big of an underdog. We’ve beaten the best. It’s not out of the question for us to win that, and I think everyone believes.”
The team realistically understands that it must win the ACC tournament in order to compete in the NCAA tournament, Grant said.
“As far as the NCAA tournament goes, we’ve got to win the ACC tournament,” Grant said. “And everyone knows that.”
Grant said topping Wake Forest, as well as winning at Maryland on Saturday, is essential in building team confidence. Though Grant said team morale is still high, a pair of wins would improve seeding in the ACC tournament, which would ideally lead to an NCAA tournament birth.
“Right now we’re pretty much level headed,” Grant said. “We know what’s ahead of us and what we have to do. We just want to get out here and set ourselves up to play the easiest schedule in the ACC tournament as possible, and that’s what we’re really focused on. I think we can make a run at that. It’s just one game, one day of preparation. Anything can happen, and there’s not anybody in the league that we can’t compete with.”
Junior guard Braxton Albritton will be honored along with Nieman and Atsur prior to tonight’s game. Albritton is in his last year with the basketball program as he plans to graduate early.
