Three Points: N.C. State 76, Boston College 62

1) The Richard Howell Fan Club

Junior forward Richard Howell lost 25 pounds in the offseason and found his game. Howell always played with a high basketball IQ but didn't always have the physical means, or stamina, to maximize his potential.

Howell's still undersized — he's listed at 6-8 but is really about three inches shorter — but he's made up for his lack of height with effort. He was all over the court on Thursday with 11 points, 16 rebounds and three steals. (I actually think he was short-changed by the official scorer in the latter category as State produced a season-best 16 steals.)

"He set the tone for us with his defense," Scott Wood said.

Howell was key in the game-turning 15-0 run after BC tied the score at 21 with 8:44 left in the first half. BC coach Steve Donahue applauded Howell's efforts after the game.

"He's a big, strong kid," Donahue said. "He's a load. He's a tough kid. He's a hard matchup for anyone, particularly us."

2) State needs good news on C.J. Williams

When senior C.J. Williams left the court nursing his right shoulder with 9:16 left in the game, Mark Gottfried was practically holding his breath. With a seven-man rotation, State can't afford to lose anyone, let alone Williams, the team's top defender and leader.

Williams watched the end of the game with ice and an Ace bandage on his shoulder. He was scheduled to be reevaluated this morning by the team's medical staff.

"We'll find a lot more (today)," Gottfried said. "Hopefully, he's going to be fine, we'll see."

Before Williams left the arena, he walked by the press room. He ducked his head in to watch enough of the Carolina-Virginia Tech game to see Dexter Strickland's injury.

Williams had 10 points, six boards and four steals before leaving Thursday's game with the injury.

I don't think depth is a problem for State, a backup guard (Alex Johnson) and backup forward (DeShawn Painter) is a perfectly acceptable rotation but — and, duh — State can't afford to lose any parts of that seven-man rotation.

3) Lesson learned

When you looked at N.C. State's schedule, and specifically the Maryland-Georgia Tech-Wake Forest-Boston College stretch, you figured it probably should get off to a 4-0 start but State being State, you also figured it would find a way to drop one of the games.

True to form, State's 3-1 as it enters the "it could lose the next four" portion of its conference schedule (@ Miami, @ UNC, Virginia and @ BC). Except, the loss — 82-71 to Georgia Tech, which lost at home to Virginia by 32 points last night — might have actually been a good thing for this State team.

"The last time we were in this building, we kind of let the fans down and played really bad," Scott Wood said after Thursday's 76-62 win over Boston College. "I think that's the best way to say it."

Since inexplicable loss to the Jackets, who have scored 50 and 38 points in their ACC games since, State has used that loss, and what it represents as motivation. The Pack throttled Wake 76-40 last Saturday and really beat BC worse than the final score indicated.

Of course, motivational lessons only go so far, and tend to look a lot prettier against teams the caliber of Wake and BC, but State took care of the business it was supposed in the past two games and that's a good sign.