CHAPEL HILL -- At halftime, when seventh-ranked North Carolina led N.C. State by 14 points en route to a 74-55 win in the Smith Center, first-year Wolfpack coach Mark Gottfried told a courtside television employee, “We lost our poise.”
No kidding.
In a game that went far in defining the Wolfpack’s future this season, State’s players were so outmanned and overwhelmed that the only conclusion that could be drawn from the game is how much can the Pack improve before the two teams meet again – Feb. 21 in Raleigh’s RBC Center.
That the Tar Heels (17-3 overall, 4-1 ACC) won the game was no surprise. Carolina was favored by 13 points.
The shock was that State (15-6, 4-2) couldn’t put up a decent fight – not even for a few minutes.
Therein lies the story line for the rest of State’s season. On a night when many fans – those from UNC and State – expected the old rivalry to gain new life, State’s players were a no-show. State lost but also got a reading on how far they are away from the NCAA Tournament team they seemed to be entering the game.
Defensively, State had a perfectly awful effort., not to mention its 17 turnovers against a UNC defense that basically had been average.
“We just lost poise and just didn’t execute,” Gottfried said. “It’s a game we have to learn from. Their size in the paint and their experience were the difference. This is the first time we’ve played a good team and didn’t respond. We’re going to get off the deck and ready for Saturday (against Virginia in Raleigh). The only thing we were good at was banking in shots off the glass ... it was a comedy of errors.”
But for the State minus, there is a Carolina plus.
The Heels weren’t far removed from an embarrassing loss at Florida State and had been challenged by each other and their coaches. They responded with a performance that kept State at arm’s length and instilled new hope in the Carolina locker room.
