Raleigh, N.C. — For a second there, N.C. State coach Jim Valvano thought he was seeing No. 25 on the floor instead of No. 35.

But that really was senior point guard Sidney Lowe on the court scoring a career-high 23 points in Wednesday night’s 90-61 victory over UNC-Wilmington at Reynolds Coliseum, not his long-time running mate.

“It was a great job by Sidney Lowe,” Valvano said. “He was enjoying the role of shooter tonight. I though it was (Dereck) Whittenburg out there for a while.”

Whittenburg, of course, was not in the lineup. Lowe’s long-time running mate at DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, Md., and throughout their careers at N.C. State, is still on the sidelines nursing a broken foot.

In his stead, Myers made 10 of his 24 shots to continue his role as a young scoring machine and Lowe made five of his nine 3-point shots, in addition to his nine assists.

The game, played with the ACC’s experiemental 3-point shot and 30-second shot clock, was an uptempo affair in which four Wolfpack players scored in double figures and all 14 available players saw action.

“It was nice for us to have a game like that,” Valvano said. “It was a game we needed because we could go up and down the court and play.”

And getting their legs loose is important for the Wolfpack players, as they get ready to face defending national champion North Carolina Saturday afternoon at Reynolds Coliseum. Valvano has been shut out in his seven games against the Tar Heels, and his job just got tougher since Dean Smith’s team lost Wednesday night at Maryland, 106-94, for its second straight defeat. The Tar Heels haven’t lost three in a row since 1970.

But those are worries for a different day. Wednesday’s game was about having a little fun. Not only did Lowe have a career-high, freshman Ernie Myers pumped in 24 points, senior Thurl Bailey had 16 to go along with his 12 rebounds and freshman Terry Gannon had 10.