Pack falls to UNC in Dean Dome

N.C. State suffered a tough loss Wednesday night at the hands of the No. 3 ranked Tar Heels in the Dean E. Smith Center in Chapel Hill.

The 89-80 loss for the Wolfpack doesn't sound too bad, but the game really wasn't close for much of the second half.

In the first 20 minutes, State was right on Carolina's heels and found themselves down just three points at the break. Sophomore point guard Javi Gonzalez had the best 20 minutes of his life during the first half, scoring 16 points and going 6 for 6 from the field. The Pack wasn't playing especially great as a whole in the first half, but they were most definitely in the ball game.

That's when the proverbial wheels fell off for the Pack. Carolina opened the second half with a 14-2 run and never really looked back. During the run and throughout much of the second half, the Tar Heels looked like a well-oiled machine. All everything point guard Ty Lawson controlled the tempo and got his team involved as four Tar Heels scored at least 15 points. And senior forward Tyler Hansbrough scored 27 points, marking the 35th time in his career that he scored at least 25.

Because I covered the game for Technician last night, I got an opportunity to talk with some players following the game and sit in on Coach Lowe's press conference. The mood, as a whole, seemed fairly upbeat despite the outcome. The players and Lowe were all disappointed, but they all spoke about how this team has continued to improve during the last month or so.

Heading into Saturday's game against Virginia, State needs to be cognisant of not having a letdown loss. The Cavaliers are coming off a big win over Virginia Tech and will be coming into the RBC Center with growing confidence. State needs to do what it has been doing by puhsing the ball and getting the ball inside to Tracy Smith and Ben McCauley. Limiting turnovers will also be key for Saturday's matchup. The 15 the Pack commited against the Tar Heels is simply too much.

My feelings about this team did not change following the loss in Chapel Hill. Carolina, talent wise, is on another level at this point. This team still has a chance to go dancing in a few weeks if they will continue to improve and keep winning games.