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Of State's 68-64 win at Alabama.

Strange, strange game. How often do you see a team win a game when it doesn't attempt its first free throw until there are less than 20 seconds remaining? How often do you see a team have a shot to win or tie the game in the final minute after it's been outscored, 33-3 from the 3-point line?

Talk about a contrast in styles. State's perimeter passing and shooting versus Bama's pound the ball inside, then grab it off the glass if you miss the shot.

State prevailed because it made 11 3's, it commmitted only a handful of turnovers and it had an answer every single time Bama made a run. Yes, State did give up 13 offensive rebounds and yes, Bama shot almost 43 percent against the nation's leader in field goal percentage. But the Wolfpack is heading back to Raleigh with a 9-1 record. Not too shabby.

I've seen this thread running on State message boards, started by some of the Wolfie's more pessimistic fans. It goes something like this - "State shoots too many 3s. When it hits a game where the 3s aren't falling, it'll be in trouble."

That's true, to some extent. But consider this - there's no way State wins this game without its long-distance shooting. Bama didn't turn the ball over much, it shot pretty well from the field and when it missed shots, it got a lot of second chances. Meanwhile, due to the contrast in styles - and maybe, just maybe a little home-cooking from the refs - Bama went to the free throw line with regularity, while the Pack never even came close. So how was State going to make up those points? By minimizing its turnovers and maximizing its points per possession - i.e. shooting and making 3s.

Also there's this: maybe one or two Wolfpack players have off shooting nights, but what are the chances that Evtimov, Atsur, Bethel and Bennerman, maybe even Brackman, are all going to go cold on the same night? Not too often.

Plus, it was no fluke that the Pack came into the game only allowing its opponents to make 35.7 percent of their shots. This is a top-flight defensive team.

That means it's still an upper division ACC team and a lock to make the NCAAs. What else can the Pack achieve beyond that? We'll see.