Mike Krzyzewski thinks N.C. State is an NCAA tournament team, so does ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi.
Wolfpack coach Mark Gottfried is not as sure.
"Without question, we have a long way to go," Gottfried said Monday on the weekly ACC teleconference.
RALEIGH – In a game decided by defense, Wake Forest proved tougher on Sunday afternoon, staggering N.C. State en route to a 70-57 victory at Reynolds Coliseum.
The Demon Deacons – mixing full and half-court traps – smothered the Wolfpack and pulled ahead late in the second half. They held on for the win and sent the sold-out crowd home disappointed after they had filled the venue for the seventh annual "Hoops 4 Hope" event.
Thanks to everyone who entered for a chance to win two tickets to this Sunday's Hoops 4 Hope basketball game along with a prize pack.
The winner is: belledog.
Please contact me asap so we can work out arrangements for you to pick up your tickets and the prize pack.
ATLANTA -- N.C. State’s 61-52 ACC victory against Georgia Tech on Thursday was built on the memories of what happened the last time the two teams played.
It was a month ago, when the Yellow Jackets exposed the Wolfpack defensively, shooting 51 percent in an 82-71 win in Raleigh.
“That hurt us,” said Wolfpack Mark Gottfried.
But it also served N.C. State well on Thursday in Philips Arena. The Wolfpack (18-7, 7-3 ACC) clamped down defensively on Georgia Tech (9-15, 2-8), forcing the Yellow Jackets into a 32.2 percent shooting night on its way to a third consecutive triumph.
Three N.C. State basketball recruits have been selected to play in the 35th McDonald's All-America boys basketball game on March 28 in Chicago.
The Wolfpack recruits are Rodney Purvis of Raleigh Upper Room; Tyler Lewis, who played at Forsyth Country Day in 2010-11 and is at Mouth of Wilson (Va.) Oak Hill this season; and T.J. Warren, who played at Durham Riverside and Raleigh Word of God before going to Brewster Academy for this season.
All three grew up playing in North Carolina.
Duke recruit Rasheed Sulaimon of Houston (Texas) Strake Jesuit and North Carolina recruit Marcus Page of Linn-Marr (Iowa) Marion also are on the all-star team.
The Hoops 4 Hope basketball game to honor the life of legendary N.C. State Women's Basketball Coach Kay Yow and raise money for the Kay Yow Cancer Fund is this Sunday.
And I've got two tickets to give away to the game.
In addition to the tickets, one reader will win a prize pack that includes:
Oh, and did I mention that American Idol singer Scotty McCreery is scheduled to sing at the game?
Three Points from N.C. State's 87-76 win over Wake Forest on Saturday:
1) Brown back on track
State guard Lorenzo Brown had 15 points with eight assists in a season-high 38 minutes on Saturday. He even gave a half-smile as he left the locker room after putting an end to his mini-slump.
"It was a little better," Brown said.
Brown, who is his own biggest critic, was pleased with his turnovers, only two — a low in ACC play for him. He was more aggressive against the Deacs with 11 shots (making six) after only taking five against Boston College on Wednesday, despite an obvious mismatch with Jordan Daniels.
Updated 7:30 p.m.
RALEIGH — N.C. State will always have Wake Forest.
The ACC will regularly take a game against North Carolina away from the Wolfpack when the league expands to 14 teams but State and Wake will continue to play twice a season.
Since 2006, that has been a good thing for State. The Pack beat the Demon Deacons 87-76 on Saturday for the fifth straight time and the ninth time in the past 12 games.
Scott Wood's 23 points lifted the Pack in a closer call than the earlier meeting this season, a 76-40 wipeout in Winston-Salem, and the two lopsided State wins from last season (by 25 and 21 points).
N.C. State and North Carolina have met twice a season on the basketball court every year since 1919. That's about to change.
The ACC announced its future scheduling plans for men's basketball and football on Friday and there will be more conference games in both sports, with the pending addition of Pittsburgh and Syracuse, but there will be fewer games between traditional ACC rivals.
N.C. State no longer will be guaranteed home-and-away basketball matchups with North Carolina in the new 18-game conference schedule announced this morning by the Atlantic Coast Conference.
The ACC announced a new scheduling format this morning for when Syracuse and Pittsburgh join the league. According to the new schedule, beginning in 2012-13, each school will play every other league team at least once each season, but each school will have only one "primary partner" for guaranteed home-and-away games.
Updated at 12:40 p.m. with scheduling details and a statement by ACC commissioner John Swofford.
