State looking to redeem itself against Maryland
Mar 11, 2009
Tags: ACC
Ten days ago N.C. State was playing its best basketball of the season, and visions of an at-large bid seemed to be more and more of a possibility - then came the Pack's debacle against Maryland.
Greivis Vasquez scored 33 points, including a last-second three that left a bad taste in the mouths of the State players.
"I wanna redeem myself for that and help us win the ball game," said Courtney Fells, the player responsible for guarding Maryland's play-maker for much of the game. "We should have won the first time."
With the loss, State pretty much kissed all hopes of an NCAA Tournament at-large bid good-bye, so now the Wolfpack will have to earn its way into the postseason the old-fashioned way - by winning the ACC Tournament.
A few notes from the players' comments following their practice Wednesday afternoon:
Courtney Fells feels fine after straining his groin against Boston College about a week ago. He didn't go full speed in practice Wednesday, but it wasn't because he was in pain, he just didn't want to overdo it. Fells could be seen riding a stationary bike in the tunnel before the team took the court, and said that he stayed on the bench for the Miami game in order to be ready for the ACC Tournament.
Brandon Costner still hasn't made any decisions about what he will do next season regarding his final year of eligibility. Costner says he hasn't thought about the possibility that Thursday's game against Maryland could be his last with the Pack, and maintains that his decision will be based on factors like whether or not he wants to go to grad school, the development of his game, and his desire to be on campus for more than four years.
Javi Gonzalez claims that he has forgotten about Greivis Vasquez's last-second meaningless three against the pack in the teams' last meeting, despite Vasquez's comments earlier in the day that he didn't regret the decision to take the shot.
Several of the State players talked openly about how disappointing the team's effort was last year in the ACC Tournament's first round against Miami.
Brandon Costner Courtney Fells, Tracy Smith and others admitted the desire just wasn't there for some reason in that game, but all remain convinced that this year will be different.
"Special things can happen in this tournament," senior Ben McCauley said. "Why can't it happen to us this year?"
