It was the ninth straight time that Wolfpack teams have followed up wins over rival North Carolina with a loss. Below are various media articles on N.C. State’s 58-55 loss at Virginia.
Virginia locks down NC State to pull upset, win fourth in a row
Observations: N.C. State at Virginia
Victory over N.C. State Virginia’s most consequential of season
Injury to PG Lorenzo Brown a concern as No. 19 NC State loses 58-55
P.J. Hairston was feeling it – hitting four threes in less than four minutes en route to North Carolina’s 82-70 victory at Boston College. Then, he was really feeling it after crashing into Dexter Strickland while defending a shot.
It didn’t look that bad at first but he was very slow getting up and then he was dead weight, obviously needing to be carted off.
Hopefully he’ll be back in a game or two. You have to figure though with all the attention concussions have gotten, he will miss some action. After the game, Hairston tweeted, “Thanks to everyone for the support, I’m okay just a very very bad headache.”
Reggie Bullock will have to stay out of foul trouble for sure if Hairston is out any at all. Leslie McDonald still has one game left to serve of his suspension so that makes Bullock’s outside shooting even more important.
Jackson Simmons, who was seldom used earlier in the season, saw 21 minutes of playing time against Boston College. He went four of five for eight points and pulled down four rebounds.
For more on the game itself, please click here.
NC State jumped out to a big halftime lead at 45-24 due in great part to a 20-0 fastbreak points edge and held on to a 91-83 victory over North Carolina.
Going into the game, I thought holding down State’s Richard Howell would be a key. The Tar Heels didn’t do that as Howell scored 16 points and controlled the backboards with 14 points.
But the Tar Heels could have survived Howell – had it not been for veteran Lorenzo Brown schooling rookie Marcus Paige, T.J. Warren hitting six of nine shots and James Michael McAdoo picking up two fouls in the first two minutes.
State played well enough to win regardless of McAdoo’s fouls. But the Tar Heels seemed to be greatly affected by McAdoo’s absence – not so much that he wasn’t on the court but they seemed to have that “oh-no” feel about them after the two fouls. It changes your mindset. You’ve practiced all week to prepare for a rival that is favored over you on their home court and just like that your best scorer and rebounder is in foul trouble.
It’s a shame that the Tar Heels have that excuse and that State has to listen to the “what if” questions about the absence of McAdoo. Officials certainly need to get early control of a game but it’s not good when anyone’s best player has to sit most of the half after two quick calls.
As for Brown, he did have some late turnovers but during the critical parts of the game he was dynamic. He finished with 20 points, including being perfect from three-point land and the foul line, and 11 assists. On the other hand, Paige missed his first nine shots and was benched for a time in favor of a player who hasn’t seen the court in seven of the Heels last eight games.
Paige ended up going two of 11 for seven points and four assists.
State deserved to win because the Wolfpack, as UNC coach Roy Williams said, played with a greater sense of urgency and worked harder.
Carolina looked really good at times in the second half, shooting 60 percent, but as Williams said, “I don’t care about learning experiences; that’s for babies. We gotta play.”
A happier State coach Mark Gottfried said, “the first 20 minutes defensively we were as fundamentally sound as we’ve been all year.”
It took a late slapshot goal by Jay Harrison and an empty-net goal by Jeff Skinner to break a 1-1 tie and give the Carolina Hurricanes a 3-1 win at Buffalo but the star of the game was a back-up goalie.
Dan Ellis, who played for the Charlotte Checkers while the NHL players’ strike dragged on, had 40 saves in his first start with the Canes. It was the second night in a row that the Hurricanes topped the Sabres and the win evens Carolina’s record at 2-2.
“Our “d” (defensive players) were phenomenal at boxin’ out,” Ellis said. “It makes a goalie’s job so much easier.”
He pointed out that the game-winner even came from a defenseman (Harrison).
“We’ve been shaking a little bit of the rust off and we’re going to continue to get better,” Ellis said. “We’re finding our identity. We’re starting to play hard. We’ve had a little more grit the last two games. That comes from knowing your system and applying it the way that we can.”
Ellis, 32, has been a No. 1 goalie and a backup before. He’s coming back from a career-threatening injury and appears to be setting himself up as a key element on this Hurricanes team.
Alexander Semin scored his first goal for the Hurricanes to tie the score at 1-1 in the third period.
On the eve of the big UNC at NC State basketball game, Jimmy Black, point guard of the 1982 UNC national champions, says that it was most satisfying to turn NC State’s basketball facility into silence.
“This was our biggest game,” said Black during an appearance on the David Glenn radio show today. “NC State had great basketball teams during my tenure.”
He said the thing that stood out for him playing on State’s home court was the foul language. “I’ve never been called so many things,” he said. “They called us everything under the sun.”
Going into the State game every year, he said he thought about three things. “First, you think about the satisfaction you’ll have at the conclusion of the game when there is silence. You want to shut them up,” he said. “Then you want to work hard to execute the game plan and finally you want to have fun.”
He said if the Tar Heels can go into the PNC Arena with those three things in mind the Tar Heels can win.
“It’s going to be a great, great basketball game,” Black said. “NC State is trying to regain their momentum and North Carolina is trying to continue theirs. I think both teams will play well and play hard… and may the best team win.”
Despite the fact that rival North Carolina has been picked as No. 1 in a preseason national poll, NC State has been selected as the 2013 Atlantic Coast Conference baseball preseason favorite in a vote of the league’s 12 head coaches.
The Wolfpack was named by six coaches as this year’s ACC team to beat, while North Carolina received four votes, and Florida State and Virginia one each.
NC State, which returns 2012 ACC Pitcher and Freshman of the Year Carlos Rodon, along with preseason All-America infielder Trea Turner, was also named by 10 coaches as the likely Atlantic Division winner. Defending division champion Florida State and Clemson each received one first-place vote.
North Carolina received the nod to repeat as the Coastal Division champion. The Tar Heels received nine of the possible 12 first-place votes while totaling 69 total points (six points for each first-place vote, five for each second-place vote, etc). The Tar Heels were followed in the overall Coastal Division voting by Georgia Tech (55), while Virginia (50) placed third and Miami (39) fourth. Virginia Tech (27) placed fifth, followed by Duke (12).
Two coaches named Virginia as the likely Coastal Division winner, and defending ACC champion Georgia Tech received one vote.
NC State (69) and Florida State (60) were picked 1-2 in the overall Atlantic Division voting, followed by Clemson (50), Wake Forest (34), Maryland (22) and Boston College (17).
All 12 ACC teams open their seasons with non-conference games on Friday, Feb. 15. The 2013 ACC Baseball Championship is scheduled for May 22 through 26 at Durham Bulls Athletic Park in Durham, N.C.
Twelve ACC student-athletes have been named 2013 preseason All-Americans by at least one publication, and five conference teams have been ranked among the top 25 of at least one major preseason poll.
With Florida State reaching the College World Series last season, the ACC has placed a total of 15 teams in Omaha since 2006. Seven ACC teams received NCAA Tournament berths in 2012, and at least five conference teams have been selected for postseason play each of the past 11 seasons.
Baseball America released its annual preseason top 25 on Thursday and North Carolina will open as the publication’s top team in 2013.
The top overall ranking by Baseball America is the first-ever for the Tar Heels.
Carolina leads four Atlantic Coast Conference teams in the initial rankings with NC State checking in at No. 8, Georgia Tech at No. 16 and Florida State at No. 20.
The Tar Heels return their entire weekend rotation from a year ago, a group that combined for 22 wins and all posted sub-2.00 ERAs in 2012.
Junior left-hander Kent Emnauel will anchor the rotation for the second straight year after winning eight games last year, while sophomore Benton Moss (7-2, 1.94 ERA) and junior Hobbs Johnson (7-1, 1-56 ERA) return as well.
Junior third baseman Colin Moran will lead the Tar Heel offense in 2013 after posting a team-high batting average of .365 last year.
Carolina opens the 2013 season on Friday, Feb. 15 against Seton Hall.
– News release
Miami is the only undefeated team in the ACC and the Hurricanes moved to 5-0 with a convincing 90-63 romp over No. 1 Duke. The Blue Devils loss, coupled with UNC’s 79-63 win over Georgia Tech, has the two rivals tied in the conference – but not for first place or second place but third place.
NC State is in second, a half a game ahead of Duke and North Carolina, after unexpectedly losing to Wake Forest Tuesday night.
Miami used an amazing 25-1 run midway through the first half to open things up for good. Durand Scott scored a season-high 25 points to pace the Hurricanes, and Kenny Kadji added a season-high 22. Shane Larkin finished with 18 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, while Durham native Julian Gamble had 10 rebounds and four blocked shots.
“The crowd I’m sure helped them some,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “But they didn’t need much help. We expected them to be terrific, and we have to match terrific, and then you have a terrific game. …We didn’t hold our end of the bargain.”
Meanwhile in Chapel Hill, the Tar Heels led by as many as 13 points in the first half and 19 points in the second half as the Tar Heels never trailed en route to a 79-63 win over Georgia Tech.
A 10-2 run midway through the first half put the Heels up 30-17. The run was highlighted by a nifty Dexter Strickland pass to James Michael McAdoo for a dunk and a three from the top of the key by Reggie Bullock.
Bullock led the Tar Heels with 17 points, including nine in the first half.
After leading 40-32 at the half, Carolina quickly got the lead up to 15 at 49-34 during the first two and a half minutes of the second half. A Strickland fastbreak layup and a Marcus Paige to Bullock fastbreak layup highlighted the 9-2 run.
It never got closer than 11 after that despite a rough patch where the Tar Heels turned the ball over five times in six possessions.
A pair of power dunks gave the Tar Heels their biggest lead at 72-53 with just over four minutes left. A Strickland steal and pass to P.J. Hairston who dunked it over a defender with a slashing motion. Then, J.P. Tokoto followed his own miss with a slam.
The Tar Heels travel to preseason league favorite NC State Saturday at 7 p.m. Miami still has to travel to State (Feb. 2) while the Hurricanes still have to host UNC (Feb. 9) and travel to Duke (March 2).
CBS today announced the cast for the 22nd season of The Amazing Race, which includes former Carolina Hurricanes player and current Raleigh resident Bates Battaglia. Battaglia partners with his brother, Anthony, as one of 11 teams that race through 10 countries around the world for a $1 million prize. The 22nd season of The Amazing Race premieres on Sunday, Feb. 17, at 8 p.m. on CBS.
Battaglia spent nine seasons in the National Hockey League from 1998-2007, totaling 80 goals, 118 assists (198 points) and 385 penalty minutes in 580 career regular-season games with Carolina, Colorado, Washington and Toronto. Drafted by Anaheim in 1994, the Chicago native was acquired by the Hurricanes on March 18, 1997, and made his NHL debut with Carolina on Jan. 3, 1998. Battaglia went on to play 402 games with the Hurricanes between 1998 and 2003, earning 150 points (63g, 87a) and becoming one of the team’s most popular players during its early history in North Carolina. His best NHL season came in 2001-02, when he set career regular-season highs in goals (21), assists (25) and points (46) as Carolina won the Southeast Division. Part of the “BBC” line along with Rod Brind’Amour and Erik Cole, Battaglia added five goals and nine assists (14 points) in 23 playoff games that spring, helping the Hurricanes capture the 2002 Eastern Conference Championship to earn the first Stanley Cup Final berth in franchise history.
A product of Lake Superior State University, where he tallied 94 points (31g, 63a) in 115 games, Battaglia spent time with Colorado, Washington and Toronto in the NHL after being traded by the Hurricanes in March 2003. He also played with Toronto, Syracuse and Rochester of the American Hockey League (AHL) as well as professional leagues in Germany, Finland and Sweden.
Battaglia now makes his permanent home in Raleigh. In 2005, he opened Lucky B’s Bar with business partner Mike Lombardo. The sports-themed bar continues to be a popular hot spot in the Glenwood South area.
– News release
Leaving the McKimmon Center Tuesday night, a woman yelled out to someone in the parking lot, “Wake Forest is up by two!” The man asked back, “What inning is it?” Some people think baseball year round.
The Raleigh Hot Stove League’s 63rd Annual Baseball Banquet proved that as more than 300 attended to talk about professional, college, amateur, high school and youth baseball.
In fact, Randy Mobley, the president of the International League, pointed out what a special area of the country the Triangle is for players, coaches and fans because of the wide variety of baseball options from the Mudcats to the Bulls from the Wolfpack to the Tar Heels, from USA baseball to the Middle Creek state high school champs.
The Mudcats made a big impact in their first year of High Class A baseball in the Carolina League in 2012, league president John Hopkins pointed out, by helping the league to its highest attendance ever at nearly 2 million. That’s the most that have seen games in the Carolina League since the Durham Bulls were in the league in 1995.
Steve Bryant, owner of the Mudcats, said he was impressed by the level of play, even stating that he thought the Class A Mudcats last year could have beaten some of the Double A Mudcat teams from years past.
The Triple A Bulls will spend the 2013 season celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Bull Durham movie that helped make the team and minor league baseball relevant nationally, said Bulls General Manager Mike Birling.
He pointed out that earlier this week, race car driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. purchased some baseball gear from the team’s website. Later he emailed to them a picture of himself with a Bulls hat on in front of his bus which is a replica of the Bulls bus from the movie Bull Durham.
Former major league pitcher Mike Caldwell, who won 90 games over six years with the Milwaukee Brewers, was honored with the Willie Duke Lifetime Achievement Award presented by banquet host Tony Riggsbee. Caldwell, a Tarboro native, joked that he helped put about 34 or 35 guys in the Hall of Fame by giving up 218 home runs.
Keynote speaker Johnny Narron, the hitting coach for the Brewers, despite talking seriously about what a privilege it was to wear a baseball uniform, also joked. He told about how a grizzly old baseball coach answered a man who asked what he should do about his son who was afraid of getting hit with a baseball. He said, “Teach him to play soccer.”
Texas Rangers pitcher Matt Harrison, who was born in Durham and raised in Creedmoor, was presented the Will Wynne Award, given to the North Carolinian who has contributed the most or had the biggest impact on baseball during the previous season. Harrison, who last week signed a five-year, $55 million contract, said he had worked very hard but that the game will definitely re-pay you – and he wasn’t just talking about money.
Carlos Rodon, a rising sophomore pitcher at NC State, was presented the college player of the year award while Jimmy Boyd, who pitched Middle Creek to the 4A State Championship, was presented the Jim “Catfish” Hunter award as the Wake County high school player of the year award.
The Raleigh Hot Stove League is one of the oldest, continually operating baseball organizations of its type in the nation. And its members can’t wait until Spring when people really will be talking about innings instead of halves.
