Guard Lorenzo Brown and forward C.J. Leslie shared N.C. State's team MVP award on Monday at the team's awards banquet.

Brown also won the team award for most steals and assists and Leslie also won the team award for blocks and field goal percentage.

COLUMBUS, Ohio —  After he made the free throws to clinch N.C. State's spot in the round of 16, sophomore guard Lorenzo Brown clenched both of fists, looked over to the Wolfpack fans behind press row and screamed:

"Yeah, baby!"

As the seconds melted off the clock, and Jason Clark's last-second shot fell short for Georgetown, 11th-seeded N.C. State had every reason to celebrate Sunday's 66-63 over the third-seeded Hoyas in the third round of the NCAA tournament.

C.J. Williams, who sprained his left ankle Friday night, walked in with the rest of his teammates Saturday, showing no ill effects and declaring, “It’s fine.”

N.C. State coach Mark Gottfried said Williams participated in the Wolfpack’s closed-doors shoot-around Saturday morning.

“He’s a little tender," Gottfried said. "I think he’ll play. And we’ll get him a lot more treatment today, a lot of ice tonight. So I expect him to play. I don’t know if he’ll be 100 percent, but he’ll be OK.”

San Diego State may play its games late at night by East Coast standards, and the Mountain West cable network isn't exactly easy to find, but N.C. State guard C.J. Williams knows what to expect from the Aztecs.

"I've seen them play a couple of times," Williams said Thursday in Columbus, where the Wolfpack prepared to face San Diego State on Friday. "I watched them in their conference tournament. I remember the shot that -- I don't remember which player it was, but he hit the shot at the end to win the game. They were ranked during the season, so you see them on TV, watch the highlights."

Three Points from N.C. State's 78-73 loss at Duke on Thursday night:

1) Comeback or collapse?

Any time you lose a 20-point lead, especially in the second half, there are elements of a collapse. And after N.C. State's lead over Duke grew to 61-41 with 11:33 left in the game, the Wolfpack certainly contributed to its own demise.

State made 22 of its first 43 shots (51 percent) in the first 28 minutes and 27 seconds of the game and then went 4 of 16 (25 percent), without making a 3-pointer, the rest of the way.

A belated Three Points from the Miami win, thanks to a lost morning at the Miami airport.

1) Keeping your eye on the ball

After N.C. State's 78-73 win over Miami gave the Wolfpack a 4-1 ACC record, and share of first place, first-year Wolfpack coach Mark Gottfried stayed true to his talking points.

N.C. State has a "long way to go" has been Gottfried's refrain since he took the job in April and a 4-1 ACC start hasn't changed his mindset.

N.C. State guard C.J. Williams did not practice Friday but Wolfpack coach Mark Gottfried is hopeful Williams will play at Miami on Sunday.

Williams, a senior, injured his right shoulder in the second half of N.C. State's 76-62 win over Boston College on Thursday night. Williams watched the final 9 minutes and 16 seconds from the bench with his shoulder wrapped and iced.

"We're going to watch him for 24 hours and see how he responds," Gottfried said Friday. "Right now, it's doubtful, but we're hoping that he will be able to play."

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.)

1) Challenge accepted

C.J. Williams spent his first three seasons at N.C. State as a beacon of hard work and hustle on teams otherwise lacking in both categories. As a senior he has emerged as both a leader and reliable scorer, to complement his yeoman effort.

So if anyone was going to be receptive to being called out by the coach, it was Williams, who was challenged by Mark Gottfried to step up his defense after giving up big scoring efforts to Terrell Stoglin and Glen Rice in State's first two ACC games.

"Being a senior, you have to be able to take that," Williams said. "Coach is definitely on me a little more than everybody but I accept that challenge."

In each of its first two ACC games, N.C. State has allowed an opposing shooting guard to score at least 20 points.

That's a trend Wolfpack coach Mark Gottfried wants to end for Saturday's trip to Wake Forest but the Demon Deacons have two of the best wing scorers in the ACC in Travis McKie (18.0 points per game) and C.J. Harris (17.7). The two rank second and third, respectively, in the league in scoring.

"We have to be better than we've been on the perimeter, or those guys will have big nights," Gottfried said Friday.