Pack Runs Into Buzzsaw; Loses to Wake 85-78

What can we say? State played a good game; however, Wake Forest played a great game. The Pack did a lot of what they wanted to do tonight:

Stop Jeff Teague: Check

Handle the Wake pressure: Check

Execute on offense: Check

Hold James Johnson to under 20 points......wait, that was on the checklist?

Well, it probably wasn't, but it very well should've been. James Johnson, a 4 star junior who lately has been white hot, was once again near unstoppable as he disgraced the Pack to the tune of 28 points and 18 boards. That was it, that was the story of the game. Johnson did what he wanted, when he wanted, and all the Pack could do was merely stand and watch.

The good news is that State played well. Let's be honest, taking down the #13 team in the nation in their house (where by the way they are now 13-1) is quite the task. State handled the pressure and only turned the ball over 8 times, but there was no overcoming James Johnson and his night of glory.

So what does this mean in the long run? Does State still have a shot to make the NCAA Tournament? They do, but it's going to take some work. They have 3 games left, 2 of which are at home. If they can win out, and pull in 2 tournament victories, that would put the Pack at 8-8 in the ACC with 20 wins, which looks like a resume that could very well get the Pack some serious consideration.