Brown's status uncertain as State preps for Miami

North Carolina State University

Brown's status uncertain as State preps for Miami

Lorenzo Brown (2) sets up the offense during the Georgia Tech vs. NC State game on January 9, 2013 in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Jan 31, 2013

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Raleigh, N.C. — Two days ahead of a key showdown with ACC leader Miami inside PNC Arena, the status of North Carolina State guard Lorenzo Brown's injured left ankle is still very much up in the air.

Brown wore a walking boot to class Wednesday, and Mark Gottfried said he received multiple treatments on his ankle the day after the Pack's 58-55 road loss to Virginia in order to get back on the court.

"He was limping pretty good today, which is not a good sign," Gottfried said during his weekly radio show Wednesday evening. "We're just going work with him around the clock, and I'm going to guess it will be a couple of days before we start to have a feeling of whether he can or can't play." More Info 2012-2013 Wolfpack individual stats

If Brown can't play, the Pack will rely on freshmen Rodney Purvis and Tyler Lewis in the back court against the Canes, who moved to 7-0 in league play Wednesday with a 73-64 win over Virginia Tech in Blacksburg.

Sophomore Shane Larkin, Miami's starting point guard, averages 12.9 points and 4 assists per game and leads the league in steals at 2.2 per contest. He's joined in the back court by fifth-year seniors Durand Scott (13.8 ppg) and Trey McKinney-Jones (10.2 ppg), giving the Hurricanes a group primed to bother inexperienced players on the opposing side.

Gottfried said Wednesday he was impressed with how Purvis and Lewis played in the loss.

"If you had told me prior to the game that we would play without Lorenzo and we'd be in the game, I don't know if I would have believed that," he said. "Rodney played well, and Tyler came in and played well. We're right there, we just have to find a way to execute in the closing minutes."

Purvis, a Raleigh native, finished with six points, one assist and one turnover in better than 30 minutes against Virginia. In 15 minutes, Lewis scored three points and handed out two assists without recording a turnover.

If Brown does miss one or more contests, a tough stretch of games that includes Saturday's battle with Miami and trips to Duke and Clemson could become the key stretch of the ACC regular season for the Wolfpack.

With Brown's value in mind, Gottfried said Wednesday that the staff won't rush him back.

"We'll just have to wait and see," he said. "I want to make sure he's 100 percent ready to go. I don't want to take a chance of him injuring himself worse. We have a lot of games left. We have to be smart."

Before his injury midway through the first half, Brown had tallied two points, three rebounds and an assist against the Cavaliers and the Pack held a 12-7 lead.

In ACC play, Brown averages 13.1 points, 4.9 rebounds and a league-best 7.8 assists per game.

Web Editor: Derek Medlin

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RE: Brown's status uncertain as State preps for Miami

Lewis needs to pass the ball and run the offense. Howell, Leslie, and Wood should be the leaders and show it to this team. If Wood can start strong an hit a few 3's early is a key for him, and this team. Better watch out for Larkin. He will run anyone to death in how he gets open. Larkin, Kadji and Jones are their leaders and scorers. Reggie Johnson will get his blocks/rebounds. Miami can't go on being undefeated in the ACC. VT was only down by 4 with a little over 2 minutes to go. But, we lost by 9.

RE: Brown's status uncertain as State preps for Miami

What if State wins, even without Brown?

I figure it's a long shot, but we still have a lot of other talented players on this team. Plus, we've had several days to prepare for a "Brown-less" basketball game. It's not like at UVa where we had to scramble after his injury to figure out who to play the point.

RE: Brown's status uncertain as State preps for Miami

Miami starts 4 seniors and a sophmore, their experience is the difference this
season. Miami basketball doesnt have to deal with the "one and dones" senior leadership and experience is why they are undeated in the ACC. Should be a great game in Raleigh, I'm pulling for the Pack in this one.

RE: Brown's status uncertain as State preps for Miami

Lo is the one player on States team, that can really take over a game. He is the key to their success. That being said State can still beat Miami. If you look back at the last couple of years, State has handeled them pretty well.

RE: Brown's status uncertain as State preps for Miami

Just making sure we're all on the same page after Ryan Kelly's injury.

So if NC State doesn't have Zo against Duke next week, no excuses right? Injuries don't have any effect on the outcome of games, right?
- Posted by BlueDevils00

Last I checked, there's no asterisk in the W-L column. Doesn't matter what us message board gangstas think, a W is a W and an L is an L.

That being said, LB will be needed for the long stretch, if he has any chance of getting injured worse by playing Sat, I hope they will rest him. The balance of the schedule is more important than one game that State probably won't win anyway.

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