Another nice start, followed by a defensive outage, and Hansbrough domination.

Watch highlights here.

“In the second half, they came out and turned it up again and we didn’t respond,” Lowe said. “Our defense wasn’t there like it was in the first half. Against a team like that, you have to stay solid and stay focused and we didn’t do that.” –Gaston Gazette

“We stopped playing defense and we didn’t execute on offense and they took advantage of that,” NC State junior Ben McCauley said. “They got some easy buckets and got themselves on a roll. It carried over to the second half.” –TheWolfpacker.com

“They came out stronger, more physical and more aggressive on defense,” Grant said. “I think they won the game with that trap. We were throwing the ball away.” –TheWolfpacker.com

“They were just getting easy baskets after easy baskets,” said NC State freshman point guard Javier Gonzalez, who had six points and career-high nine assists. “It’s pretty tough to get the lead back against this team. In the second half, we just didn’t play defense.”–TheWolfpacker.com

Hansbrough scored 32:

“He was the best player on the floor,” N.C. State coach Sidney Lowe said. “He’s been playing that way for a while. He’s picked it up.” –Gaston Gazette

“We let Hansbrough go wherever he wanted, do whatever he wanted,” Grant said. “He was shooting layups and we should have just fouled him. Make him go to the free-throw line, make him earn it. You can’t win like that.”–TheWolfpacker.com

Even Hickson was off his game tonight:

“We were looking for energy and quickness [from Smith],” Lowe said. “We were able to cut into their lead a little bit. J.J. wasn’t doing good on defense and we needed someone to make stops. Tracy did a good job of that.”–TheWolfpacker.com

Lowe on 2nd half fades, turnovers:

“Our biggest thing is having trouble dealing with adversity,” Lowe said. “We haven’t been able to make a run back at them and stop theirs. We’re plagued in the second half. We start relaxing and teams take advantage of that. We make careless passes under pressure. It was a mental breakdown and we didn’t stay focused.” –TheWolfpacker.com

McCauley still thinks there’s hope for making the NCAAT:

“We still have two home games left and we feel like we can go on the road against the teams we have as well,” McCauley said. “Hopefully, we can finish .500. We have to finish 8-8. Hopefully, we can have a good showing in the ACC Tournament.” –TheWolfpacker.com

“We need to come out and play the right way,” Grant said. “We’re playing good in certain spurts, but we’ve got to put it all together for 40 minutes.” –AP

Popularity: 38% [?]