Maybe not a gain in the RPI but a gain in respect
At the pregame meal before tonight's UNCG-N.C. State game, one of my fellow friends in the media business - who shall remain nameless - said he planned to spend the second half in the press room watching Wake Forest in the Orange Bowl.
"You might need to stick around and watch the game," I told him. "This game might be pretty close."
Pretty close? Turns out I underestimated the Spartans as well. The G was oh so close to pulling off the upset tonight, before falling 95-93 in overtime. You can read all about it in tomorrow's paper, but here are a few notes that I couldn't fit into my story.
1) Because UNCG SID Mike Hirschman (actually his intern) spent so much time looking this up, I feel you should know that the Spartans had three guys (Kyle Hines, Ricky Hickman and Kendall Toney) score at least 20 for the first time since UNCG went Division I.
2) Kyle Hines scored in double-figures for the 34th straight game. In 17 of those games he has scored at least 20. And for the record, the folks in the N.C. State locker room have a ton of respect for him.
In my previous post I talked about why UNCG appears to have the ingredients to make a run at the SoCon title. Tonight the Spartans show all of those elements - save one. They got big games from their two big guns (Hines and Hickman) and a huge contribution from a third source (Toney). They kept their turnovers down - just 13 in 45 minutes.
But, unlike in its win at Georgia Southern, this time UNCG just couldn't clamp down on defense and get the big stops it needed. Essentially it held on to the lead for much of the game by hitting big shots, getting a huge game from Hines and hoping that State would miss open shots. The 1-3-1 zone that UNCG likes to run just wasn't aggressive enough, allowing State - Ben McCauley in particular - to carve it up with pinpoint passes.
Still the G probably leaves Raleigh with a win if not for one critical defensive mistake. After Toney's two free throws gave UNCG a 3-point lead with 20 seconds remaining, State threw the ball down low to McCauley. The plan was for UNCG's perimeter defenders to feint toward McCauley and then quickly return to State's shooters. Instead, they sagged too low, giving Gavin Grant just enough time to get off a game tying 3-pointer.
If you're a UNCG fan, it's a disheartening loss, to be sure. But it's also not critical. Win or lose, UNCG still needs to win the SoCon tourney to make the NCAA tournament. If the Spartans learn from its last-minute mistakes and apply those lessons during the SoCon tournament, Tuesday's heartbreak will have been worth the trouble.