There's no other way of putting it. We got lucky. State trailed by one point with 14:30 left in the game after Stephan Curry hit a three point shot with 43 seconds left. Once again NC State was on the losing end of tight game. There was no hope. Grant put up a shot, McCauley put up a shot, both missed. Then Gavin Grant reached up, got another rebound, put up another shot, and missed. My heat sank for the third time in as many seconds. Then for the second time this season I heard a whistle with less that five seconds remaining in a game. Gavin Grant would have two chances. One would tie the game. Two would win the game.
Gavin Grant, cool as the other side of the pillow, hit both, and with 3.9 second remaining. A last second attempt from Stephan Curry fell short. State won.
I can't emphasize this enough this enough to other state fans. This was a good win. Davidson is a good team. This is a team that should have beaten UNC. This is a team that pushed Duke to the brinks.
In all honesty, I thought State would lose this game. Davidson is a tough team that plays all 40 minutes. Stephen Curry is only a sophomore but has proven to be an excellent player who is deadly from beyond the arc. In this game alone he hit 7 three point attempts. He finished with 29 points overall and a steal.
Remember though, State did lead for the majority of the game. Our ability to finish out a game was the only factor that kept Davidson in it. Grant finished with 15 points and McCauley finished with 11 points in 21 minutes. State out rebounded Davidson 34-22 and hit 44% their shots.
Bottom line- State is a better team than Davidson. We hit only 28% of out outside shots (i expect this to get better throughout the season) and still managed to prevail over a team that hit 40% from beyond the arc. Costner looked better shooting wise in this game but his 4 turnovers means he still has a lot of room for improvement. Grant is the heart beat of this team. As he goes, the rest of the team goes. He is a senior who is taking advantage of every opportunity he is given. His hard work has lead him to become the leader of this team. Hickson had a good game but still needs fine tuning. McCauley where have you been all this season! McCauley seems to be filling into his roll of coming off the bench. I know he isn't happy with his roll but I appreciate with how he has gradually accepted his roll and made the most of his opportunities. I would have no problem with him starting instead of Hickson if he continues to work hard and prove how good he can be.
This game can be interpreted two ways. One- Duke and UNC didn't have as difficult a time with Davidson as we did. Sure they were close and needed closing minute heroics to pull out wins but we needed a last second foul to give us the win. Two- We're close to UNC and Duke. They beat them, we beat them. This is the only team all three triangle teams have played up to this point and all three have beaten them. We have the talent, we just need to start playing together and buy into the team concept Coach Lowe is trying to convey.
Gavin Grant, cool as the other side of the pillow, hit both, and with 3.9 second remaining. A last second attempt from Stephan Curry fell short. State won.
I can't emphasize this enough this enough to other state fans. This was a good win. Davidson is a good team. This is a team that should have beaten UNC. This is a team that pushed Duke to the brinks.
In all honesty, I thought State would lose this game. Davidson is a tough team that plays all 40 minutes. Stephen Curry is only a sophomore but has proven to be an excellent player who is deadly from beyond the arc. In this game alone he hit 7 three point attempts. He finished with 29 points overall and a steal.
Remember though, State did lead for the majority of the game. Our ability to finish out a game was the only factor that kept Davidson in it. Grant finished with 15 points and McCauley finished with 11 points in 21 minutes. State out rebounded Davidson 34-22 and hit 44% their shots.
Bottom line- State is a better team than Davidson. We hit only 28% of out outside shots (i expect this to get better throughout the season) and still managed to prevail over a team that hit 40% from beyond the arc. Costner looked better shooting wise in this game but his 4 turnovers means he still has a lot of room for improvement. Grant is the heart beat of this team. As he goes, the rest of the team goes. He is a senior who is taking advantage of every opportunity he is given. His hard work has lead him to become the leader of this team. Hickson had a good game but still needs fine tuning. McCauley where have you been all this season! McCauley seems to be filling into his roll of coming off the bench. I know he isn't happy with his roll but I appreciate with how he has gradually accepted his roll and made the most of his opportunities. I would have no problem with him starting instead of Hickson if he continues to work hard and prove how good he can be.
This game can be interpreted two ways. One- Duke and UNC didn't have as difficult a time with Davidson as we did. Sure they were close and needed closing minute heroics to pull out wins but we needed a last second foul to give us the win. Two- We're close to UNC and Duke. They beat them, we beat them. This is the only team all three triangle teams have played up to this point and all three have beaten them. We have the talent, we just need to start playing together and buy into the team concept Coach Lowe is trying to convey.
PS- please leave comments, your ideas help spark ideas in other wolfpack fans mind's.
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