Lowe was the coach at his alma mater for five seasons, but he did not sustain much success.

The Wolfpack have a long list of candidates for the vacant job, but some of them are a bit unrealistic.

For example, Texas Longhorns head coach Rick Barnes tops their list, and there is simply no way he leaves his current situation.

The school also likes Arizona head coach Sean Miller, but that also seems highly unlikely to happen.

For a team that knew it had to win the conference tournament to reach the NCAA’s, the Wolfpack certainly didn’t play with much urgency.

They fell behind by double-digits shortly after the opening tip, and trailed by as much as 15 in the first half.

They finally started to get things going in the second half and cut the deficit to six a few times, but they would get no closer.

It’s unlikely they will play in the NIT, and it’s possible that head coach Sidney Lowe could be out of a job.

Their spirited final-minutes rally fell a bit short, and North Carolina State’s stay in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament ended after one day.

The Wolfpack cut a 15-point deficit to seven with one minute left, but could get no closer in a 75-67 loss to Maryland on the opening day of the ACC tournament at Greensboro, N.C.

Tracy Smith came off the bench to lead the Wolfpack with 14 points. Jordan Williams led Maryland with 16 points and 13 rebounds.

N.C. State, the 10th seed in the 12-team field, finished by losing its final three games and five of its final six.

The Terrapins held N.C. State to just 33.8 percent shooting from the field, advancing to face Duke in the quarterfinals at 7 p.m. Friday. Maryland lost both meetings with Duke this season, and the Blue Devils are the defending conference and national champions.

—30—

The Wolfpack had four of their starters score in double figures, lead by Scott Wood’s 20 points.

North Carolina State shot just a little bit better than Georgia Tech from the field and three-point range. That was ultimately the difference in the game.

Head coach Sidney Lowe may be doing just enough down the stretch to save his job yet again.

Tracy Smith scored 20 points and grabbed eight rebounds while freshman C.J. Leslie returned from a suspension to score 19 points.

NC State took an eight-point lead into the locker room and never looked back, turning it into a rout in the second half.

The Wolfpack shot almost 56 percent from the floor, and you won’t lose too many games with that type of efficiency.

It was a game that NC State, more specifically head coach Sidney Lowe, needed after slipping to 11th place in the ACC.

This game was never in doubt, as the Wolfpack fell behind early and never made a run at the Blue Devils.

Richard Howell scored a career-high 18 points and grabbed five rebounds to lead North Carolina State.

Head coach Sidney Lowe said that he has been very disappointed in the way his team has started out so slowly in its past four games.

The Wolfpack is quickly sinking to the bottom of the ACC and seeing their slim NCAA tournament hopes disappear.

Lowe has fought off previous calls for his job by guiding his teams to strong runs in the ACC tournament.

Many players returned from last year’s team and Lowe brought in a good recruiting class, raising expectations.

However, the Wolfpack is now just barely out of the basement in the ACC, which is embarassing when you consider how bad Wake Forest is this season.

To make matters worse for Lowe, the school hired a new athletic director within the past year and she might opt to bring in her own coach.

Many believe this talented class has the opportunity to save head coach Sidney Lowe’s job.

At the same time, a lot of the returning players are worried that they might lose starting jobs and playing time this year.

Scott Wood, the team’s best outside shooter, said he has worked hard in the offseason to keep improving.

He hopes the extra hard work will be the difference between keeping his starting job or finding a spot on the bench.

Dennis Horner continues to show some life down the stretch, leading the team with 10 points and 12 rebounds.

It was a huge win for the Wolfpack, who have really been struggling after such high hopes following their upset of Duke.

Just a few nights ago, they blew a 12-point second half lead at home against the Maryland Terrapins.

Head coach Sidney Lowe said he was just happy that his guys were finally rewarded for all of their hard work.