GREENSBORO – The red jacket has left the building.

If N.C. State’s 75-67 loss to Maryland Thursday night in the opening round of the ACC tournament was the final game in Sidney Lowe’s time coaching his alma mater, it ended the way so much of this season went.

Unimpressively.

The Wolfpack played itself into a 12-2 hole almost immediately, changing the feel of a game they had to win. But that’s one of the recurring themes with the Wolfpack – it makes life hard on itself.