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Mark Gottfried: Lorenzo Brown is still “a few days away”

North Carolina v North Carolina State

RALEIGH, NC - JANUARY 26: Lorenzo Brown #2 of the North Carolina State Wolfpack drives between Marcus Paige #5 and Dexter Strickland #1 of the North Carolina Tar Heels during play at PNC Arena on January 26, 2013 in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)

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NC State point guard Lorenzo Brown couldn’t have gotten hurt at a worse possible time.

He sprained his ankle in the first half of the Wolfpack’s visit to Charlottesville, a game that Mark Gottfried’s club ended up losing by three points. The injury kept him out of Saturday’s home game with Miami, which NC State lost by one.

And now, it looks like Brown may not be available on Thursday, when the Wolfpack visit Cameron Indoor Stadium to take on the Blue Devils.

From the Fayetteville Observer:

North Carolina State coach Mark Gottfried says he doesn’t know if point guard Lorenzo Brown will be ready for Thursday’s trip to No. 4 Duke. [...] Brown spent the days following his injury in a walking boot, though he shot around during pregame warm-ups in an attempt to play against the Hurricanes.

Gottfried said Monday that he thought Brown was still “a few days away” after the Miami game.


A recap, for those scoring at home. The Wolfpack at in the fourth game of a four game stretch where they play the top four teams in the ACC. After playing his best game of the season in a big win over North Carolina -- Brown finished with 20 points and 11 assists -- Brown was unavailable as the Wolfpack lost nail-biters against third-place UVA and first place Miami, and, at the very least, won’t be at 100% when the Wolfpack visit Duke.

NC State is currently 5-4 in the ACC, four games behind Miami and two games in back of Duke. A loss to the Blue Devils drops them to 5-5, although the last-second loss to the Hurricanes all-but ended any chance NC State had to win the ACC regular season title.

Not to rub it in, but wins in those last two games would mean that the Wolfpack were 7-2 in the ACC, a game out of first place heading into Thursday’s battle.

With all due respect to Tyler Lewis and the way he has played the past two games, would Lorenzo Brown had made four points worth of a difference?

You can find Rob on twitter @RobDauster.