WRAL Sports Fan

North Carolina State University

Costner hoping State can make magical run through ACC Tournament

By Guy Curtright

Mar 11, 2009

A team has never won four straight games to claim the ACC Tournament title. North Carolina State came close, though.

Brandon Costner was a big part of that near miracle two years ago.

As a redshirt freshman, the 6-foot-9 forward set a Wolfpack and ACC freshman record with 90 points as surprising N.C. State reached the ACC championship game before losing to North Carolina.

Now coach Sidney Lowe needs another big tournament from Costner if the Wolfpack if going to make the postseason – whether that is the NCAA Tournament or NIT.

“We need it again and again and again,” Lowe said of Costner being at the top of his game. “Teams that win, your top players perform. That’s the way it is with everyone.”

Costner, now a junior, hasn’t been able to match that production of two years ago. He leads the Wolfpack in scoring, but his average of 13.6 is well below the 16.8 he recorded during his first full season.

“My scoring is down a little, but I think I’m doing all the things I need to help my team win,” Costner said Wednesday after practice at the Georgia Dome. “I’m not forcing shots, because there is no reason to.

“We have played well the last 10 games or so and I really think that we are starting to come into our own. I feel good about this team and our chances.

“Two years ago is two years ago. This is a different team. But I think this team is motivated and can make another good run.”

No. 10-seed N.C. State (16-13, 6-10) will play No. 7 seed Maryland (18-12, 7-9) in the first round Thursday at 7 p.m. The winner plays No. 2-seed Wake Forest (24-5, 11-5) on Friday in the quarterfinals.

Wake Forest is ranked No. 8 nationally, but the Wolfpack showed how well they can play with a victory over the Demon Deacons while going 5-5 down the stretch in the regular season.

First, though, N.C. State has to get by Maryland. The Wolfpack certainly has plenty of incentive against the Terps.

Maryland star Greivis Vasquez angered the Wolfpack by shooting a meaningless 3-pointer at the end of a victory in Raleigh on March 1.

“I personally was pretty pissed off about it and felt kinda disrespected,” Costner said. “I’m sure that a couple of us thought about running over there and knocking him down. But it wasn’t worth it.

“We felt we should have beaten Maryland, but we didn’t play our basketball. We’re going to correct some things and this game will have a different outcome.”

Although he has a year of eligibility remaining, this could be Costner’s final ACC Tournament. He says he hasn’t made a decision yet about declaring for the NBA draft.

“Coach and I will sit down at the end of the season and I’ll decide what is best for me to do,” Costner said.

Going out with another big ACC Tournament would certainly be nice.

“I hope what happened two years ago will carry over with this team,” Lowe said. “It showed what can be done. We have players who were part of that and they can talk about it with the others.

“I feel better about this team and I think they feel better about themselves. I think we all have more confidence going in the tournament. We’ve played well lately.”