Ok, Sunday wasn’t exactly what the doctor ordered for our Men’s Basketball team, but the important thing is we left the RBC Center with a win. The game didn’t get off on the right foot, but ended with the left hand, that’s for sure. The Pack came out slow, sluggish, and extremely far from the way they came out last Thursday in Durham. However, I thinking much of it has to do with the crowd, as quiet the team came out the fans were even quieter. Much of the student section of the endzones was empty, and the entire arena seemed deflated at the start. I know it’s hard for students to get to noon games on time and it’s not just basketball, take a look at kickoff photo’s for any noon kickoff for football.

Now, let’s talk about the officiating. I am extremely vocal when it comes to officiating, and yes I’ve tried it, all sports, even though it’s just young kids, so I know how difficult it can be, but you are in one of the top college basketball conferences, you should be consistent, and you should know what you are talking about. We should have known it was going to be a long day when the initial jump ball didn’t determine possession, and we had to have another one. The first half saw both teams gripping about calls, and the second half was the same. In the first 55 seconds of the second, WFU picked up 3 fouls, and not long after that the fouls were 6-2 for the half. Of course, the official’s had to even them up and next thing you know fouls are even at 6.
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The Wolfpack are on a roller coaster stretch right now with 3 games decided by a total of 8 points. And in those 3 games our two point guards have a total of 9 turnovers. And much to everyone’s surprise one of those games was against Florida State and Toney Douglas the ACC leader in steals. This is a much different story from the beginning of the season when turnovers from the point guard position was rampant.

As we go into Cameron tomorrow night we need to have the turnovers down to a minimal if we want any chance at pulling out an upset. Not to mention we have to get Costner going, as well as McCauley. Our big men will become very important as we take on a much smaller Blue Devil team that finds a way to win each and every night. They are the only team in the ACC that does not have a one possession game thus far. I hope they continue that trend Thursday, but in a lop sided lost to us.

The Wolfpack went to Tallahassee Saturday afternoon and came away with a 69-66 victory. Freshman JJ Hickson gave the pack the lead with 9.8 seconds left on two free throws breaking the 66-66 tie. He followed that up with a block on the defensive end that sealed the win. He had another double double with 12 points, 11 rebounds, and 4 blocks. Fells added 16 points and Grant 14. Horner came off the bench with 8 points. The point guard play was solid by Johnson and Gonzalez who combined for 12 points and only two turnovers. Ben McCauley saw increased playing time and produced 7 points and 4 rebounds in 24 minutes.

With the win the Pack moves to 13-6 (2-3). Next up for the Wolfpack is a trip to Cameron Indoor Stadium to face Duke on Thursday night.