NC State Preview

By Kartik Krishnaiyer
Canes Rising Staff

Coming off an overtime loss two nights ago at home it's very tough to recover quickly enough to play a road game in the ACC. But the Canes must do that tonight in Raleigh against NC State.

The Wolfpack have shown flashes this year of becoming the team they were under Herb Sendek. Close losses to Davidson and then a last second loss at Florida had the Pack faithful thinking they could compete in the ACC.

But the Wolfpack were blown out at home by Florida State, on the road by Boston College and let a second half lead turn into a 20 point loss against Duke. This team which looked better without one and done ball hog JJ Hickson, now looks like they needed Hickson's scoring all along. Brandon Costner is a solid post player but as a bit of a tweener he plays outside as much as he does inside. But unlike Virginia Tech's Jeff Allen who hurt Miami on Sunday, Costner doesn't have particularly strong post moves.

A year ago Miami gave away a game in Raleigh in the last seconds of overtime. Anthony King, a fifth year senior made a fatal mistake and quite frankly his career never recovered. The Canes went into a three week tailspin that could have cost the team an NCAA birth without some of the big late season wins Miami eventually recovered to get.

NC State is the worst ACC team Miami has faced thus far. But the timing of the game plus the psychology of the Canes coming off a heartbreaking loss at home make this a challenge. Win this game and Miami probably has the RPI resume to withstand the five game gauntlet that starts on Saturday in Maryland. Lose tonight, and Miami then probably will need to steal a game against the likes of North Carolina, Duke or a second win against FSU to breathe easy.

The stakes couldn't be higher. Game in and game out you must come to play in the ACC, and we'll get a sense of the Canes character tonight.

Check our Twitter feed on the right side of this website or at Twitter.com/CanesRising for live in-game updates of tonight's game which is on ESPNU.