Wolfpack needs strong ACC run for NCAA hopes

by Associated Press

WCNC.com

Posted on January 6, 2012 at 4:46 PM

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- North Carolina State plays its first Atlantic Coast Conference game under Mark Gottfried this weekend knowing it needs a good run through league play to contend for the NCAA tournament.

In fact, Wolfpack guard Lorenzo Brown said the team has a very specific goal to put itself in position to reach the NCAAs.

"We've just got to get past these conference games first," Brown said Friday. "We have to win 11 conference games to go to the tournament, so that's where our mind is set right now."

His admission that the team has a target number -- which came straight from the coaching staff -- stood out compared to the typical one-game-at-a-time talk from players and coaches. N.C. State opens its league schedule with four straight winnable games, starting Sunday at home against Maryland.

"I think if you're going to take a step back and look at the season, I would say we have to get there," Gottfried said when asked about the 11-win goal. "Now, once you have that conversation, now it's one. You've got to win one."

Gottfried is trying to reverse the struggles of a program that hasn't made the NCAAs since 2006 and has lost nine straight meetings against the Terrapins. The Wolfpack (11-4) played a tough nonconference schedule, with losses to No. 1 Syracuse, Vanderbilt, Indiana and at Stanford. N.C. State blew second-half leads in the losses to the Hoosiers and the Cardinal, while its best nonconference win came in November against Texas.

"We could've helped ourselves a couple of nights, no question," Gottfried said. "But I think the strength of schedule and who we played, I think we're going to put ourselves in great position if we're fortunate enough to be in that (NCAA) discussion."

N.C. State has won five straight since losing by 12 to the top-ranked Orange on Dec. 17, but it hasn't beaten Maryland (10-3) since 2006.

Maryland has won seven straight under first-year coach Mark Turgeon, but it hasn't been easy. It beat Mount St. Mary's by three points, Florida International by four and Radford by five. On Tuesday, the Terps let a 23-point lead shrink to one before squeezing past Cornell 70-62.

This is the Terrapins' first true road game of the season and only the fourth with a full roster. Guard Pe'Shon Howard recently returned from a broken leg and 7-foot-1 freshman center Alex Len is getting back into the swing of things after a 10-game suspension for playing as a pro in the Ukraine.

"I am so ready to play our first (ACC) game against N.C. State on Sunday," senior guard Sean Mosley said. "I think we've worked extremely hard up to this point to get where we are right now. I think with everyone playing and having Alex and Pe'Shon back, it's a plus for us right now."
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Source: http://www.wcnc.com/sports/Wolfpack-needs-strong-ACC-run-for-NCAA-hopes-136836333.html

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