Tech nearly collapses vs. N.C. State

"After the game the other day, I told them that's the most embarrassed I've been since I've been here, in the second half against Duke," said Hewitt, now in his 10th season. "That was absolutely, completely an embarrassment. Well I topped that today."

Not that he was placing all the blame on his players. He acknowledged his message is not getting across. The result Saturday was panic.

The messages Hewitt said he was trying to convey on the sideline were: a) let a made shot by N.C. State bounce, so that some time could run off the clock and Tech could set up its press offense, b) no lob passes, c) fake a pass, then throw it and d) when in trouble, call a timeout.

Something got lost in translation.

Tech rushed to get the ball inbounds and had passes stolen. D'Andre Bell, the senior Hewitt wanted to inbound the ball each time, was called for a five-seconds violation. Mfon Udofia got called for pushing off as he tried to get open to receive a pass. On one play when Tech actually got the ball inbounds, with 2:09 left, Bell had a pass tipped by Mays, who converted it for a layup to narrow Tech's lead to 70-69.

Bell missed a pair of free throws with 1:34 left, forcing Tech to come up with something big on defense. Iman Shumpert did, stripping Javier Gonzalez, to create a loose ball that Zachery Peacock recovered. Peacock, who finished with a game-high 22 points, made two free throws with 1:04 left to give Tech a 3-point lead, 72-69.

N.C. State came within 73-71 on two Dennis Horner free throws, and got a chance to win after Shumpert was tied up trying to bring the ball upcourt.

"We were doing a lot of rushing," Shumpert said. "A lot of that had to do with panic, seeing the lead get cut down so quick."

Nobody walked away happy, including N.C. State coach Sidney Lowe, who didn't shake hands with Hewitt afterward, fuming that Mays got fouled.

"I apologized to Coach Hewitt for walking off the floor," said Lowe, who went to Tech's locker room afterward. "The heat of the moment got me right there."

Lowe had started three freshmen for a Wolfpack team, now 2-7 in the ACC, that was tied with Miami for last in the conference entering the game. And N.C. State nearly beat No. 21 Tech (17-6, 5-4) on its home court.

"There is no margin for error in this league," Hewitt said. "We've got to make tough plays. Good teams make these plays."

Then he started to talk about Duke again, thinking about Kyle Singler and his 30 points.

"He scored 30 points with a bad wrist," Hewitt said. "That took a level of toughness that quite honestly we haven't seen around here in a while."

Shumpert was trying. He scored 14 points while playing with a virus. He was tested for mononucleosis on Friday, which was negative, but still needed IV fluid before Saturday's game.

Derrick Favors finished with 16 points, and Gani Lawal had 11 rebounds. After that game, Lawal could concede there were times Tech did not play tough.

"You're either one to be tough and play through contact, play through challenges or you don't," Lawal said. "We have some situations where we haven't, and we can't have that."