Wolfpack a winner in defeat

North Carolina and N.C. State played a basketball game Sunday at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, Fla.

The Tar Heels won. So did the Wolfpack.

That's how rare the 54th ACC Tournament turned out to be. There wasn't a loser at the end of the championship game.

The rules of basketball competition dictated that one team would finish with more points, and the format of the tournament demanded that a champion be crowned.

The top-seeded and heavily favored Tar Heels prevailed on both counts, winning 89-80 and departing with the trophy, net clippings and a first-round NCAA Tournament placement in Winston-Salem on Thursday.

State, seeded 10th, didn't get hardware, nets or an NCAA bid. But in no way did the Wolfpack leave empty-handed.

Regardless of what happens in the National Invitation Tournament, State dug up its past, dusted it off and breathed new life into a program too long removed from basketball's center stage.

Sidney Lowe's first trip to the ACC as State's head coach all but mirrored Herb Sendek's opening season in 1997. Both won three games only to come up short against Carolina in the championship. Sendek's teams also reached the league title game in 2002 and 2003, falling those seasons to Duke.

But there was a different feel -- certainly a different look -- to what developed over the four days in Florida.

In an upbeat offensive tempo with a starting lineup that included freshman Brandon Costner, sophomores Ben McCauley and Courtney Fells, junior Gavin Grant and senior Engin Atsur, the Wolfpack nonetheless attacked throughout.

There was nothing reserved or timid about Lowe's playing style. Even against UNC, the Pack was aggressive enough on offense to get into the 80s and have a shot at a win with less than a minute to go.

What the ACC world saw was a maturing, suddenly confident State team that ended up as one of the best 20 or so teams in the country. The 5-11 regular-season record against ACC foes, however, can't be discounted. Had State gone 7-9, the tournament wins no doubt would have been enough to earn an NCAA bid. Many of those regular-season games were played with Atsur either out or hurting, as the result of a hamstring injury.

Assuming all of State's non-seniors return and a couple of decent ball-handlers can be found or developed, the days of low expectations are over. The Pack will begin the 2007-08 season as a high pick in the conference. Considering the way Costner played in the tournament, there may not be a better player in the conference next season.

It has been an impressive liftoff for Lowe. His team began the season picked as the ACC's worst and ended it stalking the championship.