A Valiant Effort, But State Comes Up Short Against The Heels Once Again
The effort, heart and emotion that was missing from the previous meeting was present tonight but the result was still the same.
In a game that was plenty entertaining over the bulk of it, State led by as much as 10 early but relinquished it en route to a 75-63 loss to the Tar Heels.
As I wrote earlier today, I was rooting like hell for Sidney Lowe to get one more win against the Heels before his tenure at State came to a close, but unless the Pack should happen to meet the Heels in the ACC Tournament, Lowe will have lost his final 10 tries against the Heels after winning the initial meeting in 2007.
Hard to believe that lone win in '07 was four years ago. I remember being there vividly and how the RBC Center rocked with energy and life. It felt a bit like Reynolds, and how I imagine it felt during the Hurricanes' Stanley Cup run from the year prior.
After that win—the first against the non-Doherty Heels in a decade—I felt like we were seeing the rebirth of the program.
Here we are, four years later, and sadly nothing could be farther from the truth. We're no longer mediocre like we were under Sendek…we are, well, what we are.
So the sting of tonight's loss hurts a bit more in one sense, for Sidney, but I know that change is on the horizon and in that sense, the loss stings a little lees. It is just another mile marker we have to eclipse before the real drama of this season begins…the coaching search and the hope mixed with trepidation it brings.
Riddick & Reynolds 
its hard to put a finger on why Lowe did not succeed. when Atsur was running his offense, it looked like State would return to the glory years under Lowe, but as we know, it did not happen. Lowe, as you noted in the preceding article is a good recruiter, but for some reason he does not have the coaching ability for success at the college level. during the game last night i was looking at him and thinking: i wish he would have made it. with his demeanor and dress, he is a good representative for the university.
some guesses as to why Lowe did not fare well as a coach: after the first year other coaches were able to find the chinks in his system; he uses an NBA style of coaching which doesn’t work at the college level; or his micro-management of the offense (my guess).
i read with interest you comments about Reynolds verses the RBC. at BTP we have been discussing loudness at the two arenas. i was at the women’s game Monday night and my ears were ringing after the game due to loudness-only about four thousand were there. last night the RBC was very loud also, but the RBC is at its loudest, not due to fan noise, but due to the sound system during player intros. in the end, i don’t know which venue is the loudest.
for basketball, the RBC has never been as loud as Reynolds used to be. I was in the RBC for game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals and I have never in my life heard a building as loud as that. It’s all about the product on the ice (or the floor) and not the building. I hope that NC State basketball can once again capture the loudness they deserved in Reynolds and have yet to in the RBC.
As for why Sid did not succeed, I imagine that the true answer lies in a combination of the above answers, though I would posit that the adjustment from coaching men to young men also proved difficult (J. Ovies mentioned this yesterday). It shows in all professions, really. Ask a college professor to give a lecture to a high school class and 4 times out of 5, the lecture will go badly, as the professor is not used to working with individuals at a lower level of maturity. That said, I really felt for Coach Lowe last night. I don’t think anyone out there wanted this one more than he did.