Three Points from N.C. State's 71-67 loss at Florida State:

1) Desperate times

N.C. State played 31 regular-season games, how many times during the season did the Wolfpack play with true desperation? How many times did the Wolfpack play with conspicuous urgency?

The answer matters because talent alone doesn't define greatness. It's the combination of talent with desire and the ability of a group to play with a purpose and above the level of the sum of their parts.

Florida State handed N.C. State a ticket for a bye in the ACC tournament and then the Seminoles took it away.

Freshman guard Devon Bookert scored eight of his 18 points in the final 3 minutes to carry Florida State to a 71-67 home win over the Wolfpack on Saturday afternoon in Tallahassee, Fla.

N.C. State (22-9, 11-7 ACC) only needed a win to clinch a spot in the quarterfinals of the ACC tournament and avoid having to play on Thursday. The Wolfpack beat FSU by 18 points in Raleigh two and half weeks ago and led by as many as eight points in the second half on Saturday.

N.C. State outlasted Duke and North Carolina in the pursuit of top recruit Julius Randle but the Wolfpack didn't make it to the finish line.

Randle, a 6-9 forward from Dallas and the No. 3 prospect in the class of 2013, has eliminated N.C. State from his final list, according to ESPN's Dave Telep.

Kentucky, Florida, Kansas and Texas made Randle's final four, according to Telep. Randle will announce his decision on ESPNU on March 20.

With a win over Virginia on Thursday night, Florida State opened the door for N.C. State to earn a bye in the ACC tournament.

N.C. State, 11-6 in the ACC, would clinch an opening-round bye with a win over FSU on Saturday. The Wolfpack would be the No. 3 seed if Duke (13-4) beats UNC (12-5) on Saturday in Chapel Hill. State would be the No. 4 seed with a win and a UNC home win on Saturday.

Three Points from N.C. State's 81-66 win over Wake Forest:

1) A new approach

Basically, N.C. State spent the first 25 games of the season trying to out-score its opponents. Given the Wolfpack's scoring firepower, that wasn't a bad strategy (the Pack went 18-7 in those games) but it also wasn't the best.

N.C. State has been a different team on defense over the past five games. The Pack has been more active with more steals, which leads to easy points in transition, and has allowed fewer points.

RALEIGH N.C. State let a 16-point lead slip away at Wake Forest in January. C.J. Leslie wouldn't let that happen on Wednesday night, not in the Wolfpack's final home game of the season, not with the real season about to begin.

Leslie's 19 points and 10 rebounds helped N.C. State throttle Wake Forest 81-66 for the Pack's sixth win in seven games and third straight at home by double-digits. N.C. State (22-8, 11-6 ACC) closed out its home schedule with a 16-1 record, including an 8-1 mark in the ACC.

It was the final home game together for State's veteran quartet of Leslie, Richard Howell, Scott Wood and Lorenzo Brown. Howell and Wood were honored on Senior Night and then Leslie proceeded to do the heavy lifting.

ATLANTA — Nothing is ever easy for N.C. State team and it wasn't on Sunday but the Wolfpack found a way to pick up a needed road win.

With 18 points from Richard Howell in the first half, and 11 from C.J. Leslie in the second half, the Wolfpack beat Georgia Tech 70-57 in another physical, deliberate, ACC basketball game best suited for Tums stockholders and amnesiacs.

The Wolfpack, as it has all season, put together a stretch brilliance, which was enough to carry it to a 14-point lead in the first half, but the Yellow Jackets jammed the tempo of the game into a grinder, like sausage into casing.

Three Points from N.C. State's 82-64 win over Boston College:

1) Busy night for C.J. Leslie

All eyes were on the junior forward on Wednesday after his subpar performance against North Carolina and his coach's subsequent challenge.

C.J. Leslie responded with an active game, not great but perfectly acceptable in terms of production and especially in defensive and rebounding efforts.

Leslie, who had six points and six turnovers in the loss at UNC last Saturday, finished with 10 points, nine rebounds, three assists and three blocks against the Eagles. He had two turnovers in 29 minutes and one came on an offensive foul.

RALEIGH Whatever N.C. State lacked in continuity on Wednesday night against Boston College, it made up for in variety.

Rodney Purvis scored in transition, Scott Wood made a bunch of 3-pointers and C.J. Leslie bounced back in the Wolfpack's 82-64 win over Boston College at PNC Arena.

N.C. State won its 20th game of the season, giving the Pack consecutive 20-win seasons for the first time since Herb Sendek's last three teams did it from 2004 to '06.

Despite needing to make up a game on Virginia and North Carolina, N.C. State is still in good shape to land one of the four byes in the ACC tournament.

With four games left, the Wolfpack is one of four teams vying for two spots in Friday's quarterfinals of the ACC tournament. Miami (13-1) and Duke (11-3) will take the top two spots, likely in that order, which leaves two spots for UNC (9-5), Virginia (9-5), N.C. State (8-6) and Maryland (7-7).