RALEIGH – Nobody wanted to admit it, but the results couldn’t be argued.

N.C. State was not mentally ready for Florida State on Saturday afternoon. The Wolfpack came out flat, fell behind early and struggled even more as the game continued.

The loss to Duke two nights earlier lingered, and the Wolfpack paid the price for remembering it for far too long.

“We have to dig down and be better and fight through tough situations when we aren’t playing well,” N.C. State coach Mark Gottfried said. “This team has done that a number of times this year. No question, we’ve done that, but (Saturday) we didn’t.

“That was frustrating. We are better than that. We are a better basketball team than that.”

But the Wolfpack (18-9, 7-5 Atlantic Coast Conference) has to prove its coach right. This team has never faced this situation. They’ve never had to play important games with a chance of going to the NCAA Tournament at the end of the season.

N.C. State had an opportunity to earn its ticket this past week. So far, it has resulted in two demoralizing losses that really didn’t prove anything. The Wolfpack gave away a massive lead to Duke and never really competed against Florida State.

Gottfried has tried to take his players’ minds of the importance of the three-game stretch that they are already two losses into, but so far that might not be working.

“We have an opportunity, and we still do,” Gottfried said. “We have a lot of games left and a lot of opportunities.”

The Wolfpack’s first opportunity to rebound from two painful losses will be Tuesday against a team that has sent N.C. State home with a loss already this season.

No. 8 North Carolina defeated N.C. State by 19 points in Chapel Hill.

After practice today, N.C. State just wants to play again.

“Whoever our next opponent is, it doesn’t matter,” forward C.J. Williams said. “We are going to go in feeling we can win the game. We aren’t going to go in expecting anything, but a great effort out of them. We are going to put forth our best effort.”

But can they?

So far this season, N.C. State had never responded to a loss the way it did Saturday. Not that they’ve always rebounded with a win – N.C. State lost back-to-back games twice before Saturday – but because they weren’t mentally prepared for the game.

The Wolfpack had never been in that situation, either. How they respond Tuesday will go a long way in determining whether this N.C. State team is mentally tough enough to make the NCAA Tournament.

“We have to accept the fact that if you want to play in the greatest show on earth, then you better toughen up and you better man up, pal,” Gottfried said. “There is no other way to look at it. Teams that get to play in March are mentally tough enough to withstand most things and they fight their way through it. We’re not there, and we have to get there.”

Justin Hite can be reached at 407-9951 or at jhite@rmtelegram.com.