Instant observations: NC State falls short at Stanford for eighth straight loss

The road hasn’t been kind to NC State this season. The Wolfpack blew a pair of double-digit leads at Virginia and Virginia Tech early in league play before a pair of double-figure losses at Duke and Cal, more recently.  And as NC State looked to right the ship and win its first game outside of Raleigh when it hit the court at Stanford on Saturday evening in Palo Alto, Calif., the same story that has plagued the Wolfpack all season long occurred again. NC State held a second-half lead that evaporated in a hurry as Stanford handed the Pack its eighth straight loss in a 74-73 result.  Freshman guard Trey Parker's 3-pointer at the buzzer rimmed out to end the game. The Wolfpack, which led by 4 early in the second half, went cold from the field with eight straight missed shots over a six-minute stretch. That opened the door for the Cardinal to go on an 11-1 run to take an 8-point lead.  NC State has now been in front of its opponent in the second half in nine of its 10 total ACC losses this season as the Wolfpack has failed to close games after halftime in what has turned into a constant theme in its longest losing streak since the 2006-07 campaign.  While closing games has been an issue for most of the year, the Pack shot 23-of-61 (37.7 percent) in the second half, while Stanford was 16-for-30 (53.3 percent) in that stretch.  Parker led the Pack with 19 total points and five assists, while Dontrez Styles had 18 and senior guard Marcus Hill logged 14. Here are three observations from the Wolfpack's eighth consecutive loss.