Great piece at ACC Now regarding the Davidson game

Joe Giglio knocks it out of the park with this entry regarding the Davidson game and the blown opportunity State let slip away.

I turned off that game after the final horn feeling horrible. Yeah, Steph Curry's incredible. We knew that already. He was going to get his points no matter what we did, short of committing 4-on-3 basketball suicide. But as poorly as everyone else played, from both teams, the opportunity was there for State to capture that game for the taking and make a statement that this team was back on track on its climb up into the upper half of the league.

(Continues)

Joe nails it here:

N.C. State, which closed the 2007-08 season with a school-record nine straight losses, could have used the shot of confidence from beating No. 22 Davidson.

Playing well was a start. Leading at the half was a good sign, so was leading with less than 3 minutes left.

There's no shame in losing late to Curry, ask Gonzaga or Georgetown (both in N.C. State's building, by the way).

But if N.C. State is serious about making progress in Sidney Lowe's third season, it has to take advantage of the chances it gets. Out of the ACC, Davidson was the first shot at credibility and erasing the disastrous finish from last March.

And as Joe goes on to mention, Marquette and Florida are the last two legit opponents this team will face in trying to bolster its NCAA resume when the time comes. Lose both those games, and a trip to the dance--short of a solid 10-win-or-more in-conference mark--looks nearly impossible.