NC State Looks To Duplicate Road Success
NC State desperately needed its home win over Virginia on Sunday. That seems like an odd statement, particularly early in the league slate, but there is no getting around how important it was for the Wolfpack.
Had NCSU lost, the Pack would enter this week's portion of the schedule, with road games at Florida State and North Carolina, at 2-3 in conference play. The chance to get buried in the ACC standings, while also falling out of the national rankings was real.
With the win, NC State has positioned itself to use the two-game road trip as a means to create separation in the conference standings. Two roads wins this week can help neutralize the home defeats the Wolfpack suffered to Duke and Boston College. NCSU has already triumphed in its conference travels once this season, a victory over Syracuse on New Year's Day.
One thing that the Wolfpack had against Virginia that was lacking in recent weeks was defensive consistency.
"We were tired of losing," NC State wing Madison Hayes said after the Pack defeated Virginia. "We fixed our defense in the last two practices. We are working on our transition defense."
According to NC State head coach Wes Moore, the key to success was less tactical.
"I thought our energy and urgency was a little better," Moore said. "We are going to have to have that. This league is really, really good. If you don't bring it every night, you are going to have a lot of disappointment."
The Wolfpack now faces a situation where losses in its next two games are plausible. FSU and UNC represent two difficult places to play. The Seminoles are 4-1 in ACC play (15-3 overall). While the Tar Heels have struggled at times this season, North Carolina is coming off of a huge home win against No. 7 Notre Dame.
For NC State, the possibility of being under .500 in the league after seven conference games is real.
"It is super-big," NC State guard Diamond Johnson said of the Wolfpack's next two games. "We just know that we have got to play really hard...We have got to keep the momentum going, keep playing for each other and keep getting better at things we can get better at."
In Moore's mind, that's just typical life in the ACC.
"You have got to be ready," Moore said. "We won a big game at Iowa, obviously. We have got to find that, I don't know what it was, but we have to get back to that. Florida State and North Carolina are both playing really well."
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A lifelong native of the Triangle area in North Carolina, Rob McLamb has covered NC State Athletics since 2010, as well as writing about each of the five major sports leagues in North America (NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, and MLS) for various newspapers and outlets. As a journalist who has also served as a high school and college coach, McLamb provides an educated, unfiltered, and analytical perspective on the Wolfpack and the ACC.