No. 25 Notre Dame fears NC State after Gottfried decision

RALEIGH, N.C. -- On the road for a second time this week and again feeling good about the direction of its season, No. 25 Notre Dame faces a team that's down.

Really down.

Heading into the home stretch of Atlantic Coast Conference play, Notre Dame (20-7, 9-5) has won three in a row and has designs on a conference tournament double bye, given to teams that finish in the top four.

North Carolina State (14-13, 3-11) has lost six straight by an average of 19.1 points and seven of its last eight. And it's rarely been close.

Since beating Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium in late January for the first time since 1995, North Carolina State has lost four games by at least 24 points. That includes last week's 30-point loss at Wake Forest, which allowed the Demon Deacons to complete a season sweep for the first time since 2005.

And when NC State dropped a 24-point game to Tobacco Road rival North Carolina on Wednesday, athletic director Debbie Yow had officially seen enough.

By Thursday afternoon, the rumors swirling about coach Mark Gottfried's future were put to rest. Gottfried is out at season's end after six years in Raleigh, but he will stay on to coach the remaining games on the schedule.

Picked in preseason to finish sixth in the ACC, the Wolfpack are in 14th and have shown zero signs of being a team that some touted in the fall as Top 25.

That falls on Gottfried.

"Everything that happens is my responsibility," he said earlier in the week. "That's part of the turf as a head coach."

Fighting Irish coach Mike Brey expects a totally different atmosphere Saturday in PNC Arena, and a better effort from the Wolfpack.

"Throw out the record of North Carolina State given the dynamics of the program right now," Brey said. "They're going to play great. We are going to have to play fabulous to win a road game."

And certainly start stronger than the Irish did earlier in the week against Boston College. Notre Dame allowed a season-high 49 points in the first half before getting it figured it out in the second. The Eagles were limited to 27 points while the Irish and their new five-out offense erupted for 45.

"We're ready to get off to a good start," Brey said. "But if we don't get off to a good start, I'll take a good second half. I'll always take that."

One of the league's most efficient offenses will do it against one of the worst defensive outfits.

The Wolfpack rank 12th in the ACC in field-goal percentage defense (44.8), 13th in steals and 15th in 3-point field goal percentage defense (35.9) and scoring defense (80.5). They've also allowed at least 84 points in each of its last six games.

"We've struggled at times this year, most of the time, to guard people off the dribble," Gottfried said. "Keeping somebody in front of us is an issue. It's really been an issue all year long."

A win Saturday gives the Irish at least 10 league wins for a third-consecutive ACC season. One more road test awaits before a seven-day break from game action.

"We've got to come in focused and play this game like any other ACC game," said sophomore guard Rex Pflueger.