Gators' shocker is Lowe's most painful defeat

After a nearly sleepless night, N.C. State coach Sidney Lowe declared Sunday's devastating, 62-61 defeat to Florida the worst loss he has ever experienced.

Florida's Chandler Parsons fired in a 75-foot shot at the buzzer in overtime to win the game and shock the crowd at the RBC Center. Lowe said Monday morning that he replayed the game in his head until 4:30 in the morning, and awakened at 6:30.

He was asked during the ACC teleconference call Monday whether he'd ever been a part of a more difficult loss.

"No, I haven't," he said. "I would have to say that one there was the worst. That was the worst one. I've never been through anything like that and felt the way I did. All of them hurt. Every loss hurts. But to have it happen that way, it's tough."

Lowe clarified his instructions for guard Farnold Degand, who clanked the second of two free throws off the front of the rim with 2.6 seconds remaining in overtime before Parsons' game winner. There had been speculation that Degand missed the second shot on purpose.

That wasn't the case, Lowe said.

"He was trying to make it," Lowe said. "We didn't want him to miss, no, absolutely not. We wanted him to make it just in case something like what happened, happened."

Lowe said it will be a good thing for N.C. State to get back on the court soon, as the Wolfpack plays host to Holy Cross at 7 p.m. Wednesday. He said he will try to lift his players' spirits by focusing on the positive things N.C. State did in the game.

But he said the players' spirits were still down on Monday.

"I really felt bad for our kids, because they just played their hearts out and put themselves in position (to win)," Lowe said. "And to lose like that is tough."

Ken Tysiac