By R.L. Bynum
CHARLOTTE — Ven-Allen Lubin did what he has all season for N.C. State, where he’s put up consistent numbers in his senior season for the Wolfpack.
Lubin scored 18 points on Wednesday afternoon at the Spectrum Center as No. 7 N.C. State ended a four-game losing streak with a 98–88 victory over Pittsburgh in the second round of the ACC tournament.
A year earlier, he was on the same floor playing for North Carolina, starting all three of the Tar Heels’ ACC tournament games. He surprised many by transferring to the Tar Heels’ rival after it first appeared that he would return to the Tar Heels for his senior year.
Did he want to clear up any misconceptions about his exit from UNC?
“I don’t want to clear it up right now at this moment,” he said in the hallway outside of the Wolfpack’s dressing room. “I spoke about it a little bit earlier in the season. It’s nothing I have against them; it’s just how the business and basketball works.”
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There was no frustration in his voice, no tension behind the words even though he didn’t want to elaborate.
“Just grateful to be here,” said Lubin, who scored 12 points in State’s 82–58 win Feb. 17 over UNC, its last win before Wednesday. “I’m having a really great time enjoying my experience here. It is nothing that I will regret any time.”
He would have played behind Arizona transfer Henri Veesaar with the Tar Heels, but he’s started every game for N.C. State, leading the ACC in field-goal percentage at 68.8% while averaging 13.8 points per game and 7.1 rebounds.
The win on Wednesday was a key one for the Wolfpack as they try to solidify their spot in the NCAA tournament.
“We want to take advantage of every opportunity,” Lubin said. “We don’t get these moments back. [The seniors are] going to be moving on to the next level and want to enjoy this moment. We don’t want it to end anytime soon. Make sure we enjoy it and keep winning because that’s important for us and that’s what we want to continue to do.”
It will be a significantly tougher challenge in Thursday’s noon quarterfinal game as N.C. State faces No. 2-seed and No. 10-ranked Virginia, which easily swept the Pack during the regular season, 76–61 in Raleigh on Jan. 3 (when Lubin scored only 7 points) and 90–61 in Charlottesville on Feb. 24.
“We know Virginia is a physical team,” Lubin said. “We saw them twice and the results we didn’t want and we didn’t get. But knowing it’s the third time and we’ve got to learn from our mistakes and our experience and make sure we do as well and not getting guys in foul trouble.”
“We know Virginia is a physical team,” Lubin said. “We saw them twice and the results we didn’t want and we didn’t get. But knowing it’s the third time and we’ve got to learn from our mistakes and our experience and make sure we do as well and not getting guys in foul trouble.”
ACC tournament
Spectrum Center | Charlotte
Tuesday’s first round
No. 15 Pittsburgh 64, No. 10 Stanford 63
No. 11 SMU 86, No. 14 Syracuse 69
No. 13 Wake Forest 95, No. 12 Virginia Tech 89, OT
Wednesday’s second round
No. 7 N.C. State 98, Pittsburgh 88
No. 6 (No. 24 ranked) Louisville 62, SMU 58
No. 8 Florida State 95, No. 9 California 89
No. 5 Clemson 71, Wake Forest 62
Thursday’s quarterfinals
No. 2 (No. 10 ranked) Virginia 81, N.C. State 74
No. 3 Miami 78, Louisville 73
No. 1 (No. 1 ranked) Duke 80, Florida State 79
Clemson 80, No. 4 (No. 19 ranked) North Carolina 79
Friday’s semifinals
Virginia 84, Miami 62
Duke 73, Clemson 61
Saturday’s championship
Duke 74, Virginia 70
Photo courtesy of the ACC
