N.C. State had all the makings of a team that could make a legitimate Sweet 16 run this season. A Final Four wasn't out of the question.

They had four veterans back from a team that went to the ACC tournament championship game a year ago. The question was whether Farnold Degand could replace Engin Atsur running the team.

Now the question surrounds the chemistry of the team with talented freshman big man J.J. Hickson coming in and logging tons of minutes.

Sidney Lowe's team had a nucleus of Brandon Costner, Ben McCauley and wings Gavin Grant and Courtney Fells.

McCauley may not have the NBA potential that Lowe is used to from coaching in the pros, but he's a terrific college big man - and he's basically gotten the shaft since Hickson came on board. McCauley's playing time is down from 34.5 minutes to 22 minutes while Hickson is logging 27.3 minutes and leading the team in scoring (18.5) and rebounding (8.3). Costner hasn't played with the same intensity he displayed throughout much of last season and his minutes have also diminished.

Hickson's numbers are great and all, but the Wolfpack are 4-2 and probably should be 3-3 - if not for a phantom foul called on Villanova that gave Grant three free-throw attempts as time expired.

N.C. State has lost to New Orleans at home and was blown out last night by Michigan State on the road. The Wolfpack struggled at Rider and barely got past South Carolina at home.

Lowe should have brought Hickson off the bench (he's started two of the five games) and made him earn his playing time on a veteran team that appeared to have terrific chemistry down the stretch last season.

BATTLE OF UNLIKELY UNBEATENS

By my count (and math isn't my strength), there are 31 unbeaten teams left in the D-1 ranks.

Two of them will be playing Sunday when St. John's travels to Miami.

Neither may be at full strength.

The Hurricanes, who were somehow picked to finish in the cellar in the ACC, are hoping to get junior combo guard Jack McClinton back while St. John's will definitely be without its most experienced player - forward Anthony Mason Jr.

McClinton has missed the past two games with a sprained thumb on his non-shooting hand, but Hurricanes coach Frank Haith is hopeful he will be able to play Sunday.

Freshman Edwin Rios has done a nice job logging major minutes with McClinton out of the lineup.

"He's been great running out offense," Haith said. "He's got to shoot the ball better and defend better, but that's typical of all freshman."

"But we're a different team with Jack," he added. "He's a threat offensively and opens up things for our post guys."

Mason's ankle injury kept him out of the first three games - and now he's out again for three weeks, according to Red Storm coach Norm Roberts, after re-injuring it on a putback last night in a victory over Long Island.

"We just need to stay away from injuries," Roberts said.

Roberts has gotten strong play from freshman power forward Justin Burrell, who had 18 points and a dozen boards last night and has racked up three consecutive double-doubles.

"He didn't even play well," Roberts said. "But he can physically get stuff. He rebounds with two hands and when you need to score in the paint, he can do it."

HARRICK STILL MAKING HEADLINES

This comes courtesy of Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com. The D-League draft was a few weeks back and the coach of the Bakersfield Jam is none other than ex-UCLA, Georgia and Rhode Island coach Jim Harrick.

Each team gets 90 seconds to make its selection through a teleconference system. Bakersfield had the 13th overall pick, but after 90 seconds, Harrick and the Jam had yet to make a selection.

Harrick, whose team forfeited the pick, was watching the draft on television and didn't understand that the broadcast on TV was delayed.

Speaking of the D-League, here are some interesting names atop the scoring leaders early in the season - Keith Langford (31.0), Ramon Sessions (30.5), Nik Caner-Medley (30.0) and Sean Banks (27.5).

RANDOM NOTES: New Orleans improved to 4-0 with its first home victory over Lamar last night. Senior guard Bo McCalebb scored his 2,000th point as the Privateers are off to their best start since 2002 under first-year coach Joe Pasternak. ... Pittsburgh coach Jamie Dixon said that freshman big man DeJuan Blair has slowed down partially due to a bruised tailbone. Blair began his career with 20 points and 14 boards, but is averaging 8.8 points and 6.6 rebounds in the last five games. "He hasn't been as good the last few games, but he's been hurt," Dixon said. ... UCLA's junior point guard Darren Collison had 15 points and five assist in his season debut against George Washington last night. ... How about Florida State senior guard Ralph Mims belting out the national anthem prior to Tuesday night's game against Minnesota? ... DePaul kicked seldom-used sophomore forward Thijin Moses off the team for violating team rules. ... One of the most overlooked commitments of late was Derwin Kitchen committing to Florida State. Kitchen is a guard who would have been an integral player at either Florida or St. John's (he committed to both schools, but couldn't make it academically).