Sidney Lowe, in his fifth year as N.C. State's head coach, acknowledges that ACC play is very hard on freshmen.

"It's a difficult deal for freshmen, as we know," Lowe said.

Lowe, who played a key role for the Wolfpack as a freshman more than 30 years ago, has three freshmen in his rotation – Ryan Harrow, Lorenzo Brown and C.J. Leslie.

"You can’t come down the floor and do something one time and know that it’s wrong," Lowe explained, "and then come down and do it again. I know they’re going to make mistakes; the key is learning from those mistakes and not committing the same mistakes over and over."