In the midst of a 0-3 start to the young ACC season, the men’s basketball team (10-6, 0-3) will look for its first conference win at Joel Coliseum tomorrow in a showdown against Wake Forest (9-6, 1-2) at noon.
Junior guard Gavin Grant said he and his teammates fully understand the necessity for a win against the Demon Deacons, particularly after losing their last two conference games at home.”[It’s] more important than any other game on the schedule at this point,” Grant said.
On the heels of an 87-76 loss to Clemson, again without injured senior point guard Engin Atsur, the Wolfpack will face a young Wake Forest team with only two upperclassmen on its roster.
According to coach Sidney Lowe, State will have to deal with Wake’s inside presence and size in order to steal a necessary first conference win.
“They’re all big, but again it’s an opportunity,” Lowe said. “Now we go on the road, [with] a chance to get a win on the road in the ACC. You have to get some of those. It’s a big game for us.”
Leading the Demon Deacons this year is senior center Kyle Visser, who ranks third in the ACC in scoring, averaging 18.8 points per game and also ranks second in the conference in rebounding (8.2 rpg) and field goal percentage (.629).
The Pack will have to find a way to work around ACC inexperience and lack of depth, particularly at the point guard position without Atsur. Four of State’s starting five players rank in the top five in the ACC in minutes played per game. According to sophomore forward Ben McCauley, who leads the Pack with 16.8 points per game, the game is not only necessary for the team’s record, but also for its confidence.
“We’ve got to get a win in the ACC and we’ve got to get our confidence back up,” McCauley said. “We’re a little inexperienced with ACC play. A lot of guys haven’t played a lot. I think we need to just take our time. If we take our time we’ll do very well.”
According to redshirt freshman Brandon Costner, the Pack’s recent play will need major adjustments in order to compete in the ACC.
“We’ve dug ourselves in a pretty big hole,” Costner said. “And we’ll have a hard time getting out of it.”
Lowe said he feels State can only compete if it plays with a more competitive and aggressive nature against conference teams.
“I want us to be more physical,” Lowe said. “I want us to be more aggressive. Just go after it, because otherwise you’re going to sit back and take the blow. And in the ACC you’re going to get hit. So we’ve got to get up and we’ve got to deliver.”
The Pack went 1-2 last year against the Deacons, losing at home and in the ACC tournament. State has won 5 of the last 11 games in the series, though they have won only two of the last 16 games in Joel Coliseum.
Though the team has struggled, according to Grant, the league is still wide open for any team to step up and win on the road.
“We’ve got to play better,” Grant said. “This is not the Sun Belt [Conference], it’s not the WAC — not to disrespect those conferences, but you got to come in here ready to play every night. Anybody can beat anybody.”
Senior Staff Writer J. Mike Blake contributed to this article.
