State ends the regular season on a depressing note, losing to Wake Forest 78-67.

It looked like departing Wolfpack senior Gavin Grant might lead State back as his layup with 5:30 minutes left to go brought State within two, 60-58. But it was not to be. After fighting back from a defect of 10, the Wolfpack seemingly ran out of steam and Wake Forest went on a 7-0 run to put the Wolfpack’s regular season out of it’s misery.

State’s leading scorers against Wake were Grant (16), Hickson (11), and Costner (10). Grant also threw in 7 rebounds and 5 assists. Low points include Courtney Fells (1-5 from the field, 1-4 from 3pt line; a turnover and 4 fouls in 25 minutes) and Marques Johnson (why does this guy still get playing time? 3 points in 11 minutes on 1-4 shooting with 2 turnovers). McCauley only saw 11 minutes of action as he gave way playing time to Costner. While Costner scored 10, it was on 3-13 shooting (1-6 from 3pt land) and had 2 turnovers with only 2 rebounds.

While these are a lot of numbers, I think it’s important to point out that State shot 44% on the day. Replacing Fells, Johnson, and Costner, State would have shot 59% from the field.

Up next (and all that’s left now) is the ACC tournament.

As StateFansNation.com points out, NC State will play the ACC tourney as a twelve seed …dead last in the conference. The tournament starts on March 13th and runs through the 16th.

Popularity: 85% [?]

Three highlights: Gonzalez to Fells dunk, Gonzalez to Hickson dunk, and McCauley with the last second put-back dunk for the win.

Popularity: 30% [?]