Jacobs: Ending Painful, Merciful For Wolfpack

Virtually every team ends its season with a loss. But few defeats could be as unfulfilling or, frankly, as disheartening as N.C. State’s 63-50 exit from the 55th ACC Tournament.

Miami was a deserving victor, but hardly a picture of poise or prowess. The fifth-seed Hurricanes shot 36.7 percent, made but a single 3-pointer in nine tries, and saw Jack McClinton, their first team All-ACC guard, go more than 30 minutes without scoring. Yet the Canes were rarely threatened by an N.C. State squad that lost its ninth consecutive game.

Observations can seem subjective when describing lack of cohesion and execution, especially when stacked against the comments of coaches, who generally put the best spin possible on events.

Sure enough, N.C. State coach Sidney Lowe praised “an excellent effort on the defensive end” by his squad, a legitimate point. But he also conceded, as if describing a minor matter, that his players “turned it over a couple of times.” Try 17 times, compared to 8 assists.

In fact, numbers often speak more eloquently, or at least more accurately, than either coaches or observers.

And, in this case, the numbers paint an ugly picture.

“Scoring has been our problem,” Lowe said in understated fashion of a squad that ranked last in the ACC in point production and scoring margin.

A sense of the Wolfpack’s offensive fecklessness against Miami can be deduced from the lopsided nature of its scoring. Freshman big man J.J. Hickson, who did not start for the first time in 25 games because he broke a team rule, scored 27 of the Pack’s 50 points. Not since 1980, when Al Wood scored 32 of North Carolina’s 61 points, had a player outscored all of his teammates in an ACC Tournament game.

N.C. State’s starters made 1 of 10 field goal tries in the first half. Miami jumped out to an 11-2 lead, and never trailed the rest of the way. “That’s been a problem with us all year, getting off to a slow start,” Hickson said.

There’s a good chance Hickson, a member of the ACC’s all-freshman team, will leave early to start his pro career. He said after the game he has made no decision, but when asked what factors he might consider mentioned neither his team nor his education.

As for the Wolfpack, the 50 points matched their low for the season, achieved in a victory over Presbyterian on January 5. That point production was the worst by any contestant in an ACC Tournament game since 2002. The 17 points managed by the Pack in the first half was the fewest in the tournament since 1989.

More numbers? N.C. State’s 2 of 15 conversion rate on 3-pointers was its lowest in an ACC Tournament game since the shot went into effect in 1987. Combine that with Miami’s inaccuracy, and the teams put on the third-worst display of marksmanship from beyond the arc (.125) in ACC Tournament history. “Obviously, it wasn’t the prettiest of games,” said Canes coach Frank Haith.

The most telling number of all: N.C. State is 15-16, its first losing record since 2001.

Changes in the NIT, now in the hands of coaches, make it possible for a team with a losing record to advance to postseason. But ACC members Wake Forest, already eliminated from the ACC Tournament, and Virginia Tech, Maryland, Florida State, and Virginia are assured of breakeven records, or better.

That means N.C. State's season is all but certainly finished. Judging by its performance over its last nine games, that’s probably for the best.