GREENSBORO, N.C. — Through 36 minutes, South Carolina dominated NC State men’s basketball. However, with a dominant end-of-game run and a heroic shot from sophomore guard Paul McNeil Jr., the Wolfpack escaped with an 88-86 exhibition win over the Gamecocks.
“They sliced our defense up,” said head coach Will Wade. “We’ve got a lot of work to do, but [I] appreciate Paul bailing us out there at the end.”
McNeil is one of just two returning players this season for the Wolfpack and the sophomore is a whole different player from his freshman self. Scoring both the first and last buckets of the game, both triples, McNeil proved why head coach Will Wade retained him — he’s an elite shooter. Finishing the game with a trio of 3s, McNeil gives NC State a player that is always a threat to score and opens up space for his teammates, making him an essential part of the offense.
“Ball was in my hands so I had to make the shot,” McNeil said. “That’s all I was thinking, just make the shot and go home.”
To get into a position where McNeil could hit a game winner, NC State needed to dig deep late in the second half. Senior guard Quadir Copeland played a key role in helping NC State remain within striking distance. Driving into the paint for tough layups, Copeland put the Wolfpack on his back during critical moments and made sure that the red-hot Gamecocks never pulled away before it was too late. Furthermore, Copeland’s vocal leadership was on full display during timeouts and between plays, keeping the Pack focused and hungry for victory.
“I’m always the loudest one on the team,” Copeland said. “Whenever I’m down or if I’m too quiet people know that something’s wrong. So I’m just being myself, building confidence in my teammates. I just try to make sure to make they know that we put in the work everyday… This is the same game we play everyday and just enjoy the moment and don’t overthink it.”
For much of the game the story was the Gamecocks and their ability to torch the Wolfpack defense from deep. The Gamecocks shot 12-of-29 from deep and guard Eli Ellis alone nailed five 3s. Seemingly all night the Pack lost South Carolina’s shooters and allowed Ellis and company to fire away like a pregame shootaround. For NC State to live up to its lofty expectations it must do a better job of sticking with shooters and taking away open shots.
“One of the reasons we wanted to scrimmage [South Carolina] is what they do offensively and the way they play the motion,” Wade said. “Some of that stuff is about the hardest stuff for us to guard. I wanted to see how spread we got and we need to get better.”
Offensively, the Pack ran an impressive operation. Senior forward Ven-Allen Lubin led the charge with 18 points, playing with the calmness and poise expected from a senior. Senior forward Darrion Williams posted 16 points, proving to be a craft scorer and excelling at drawing fouls. Most impressive was senior guard Tre Holloman however, as the Michigan State transfer turned defense into offense with his 3 steals that helped contribute to a 16-point outing.
The primary offensive concern for NC State is playmaking. Only two players recorded multiple assists and as the team the Pack relied on individual players winning with isolation basketball. While that may work at the NBA level, college teams generally succeed most when players create opportunities for others, leading to more open shots. Moving forward the Wolfpack, and especially the point guards, must create plays to generate sustainable offense.
While it wasn’t necessarily pretty, especially given the Gamecock’s preseason projections, the Pack accomplished its most important goal of winning. Despite trailing 76-65 with just over eight minutes to play, the Wolfpack showed fight and delivered a 20-7 run, culminating in McNeil’s buzzer-beater to steal the victory from the Gamecocks. Learning to win with a roster of almost all new players, even in an exhibition, should not be overlooked.
“At the end of the day, coach [Wade] spells fun ‘W-I-N’,” Copeland said. “That’s all he focuses on and of course nobody’s happy if you ain’t winning, so that’s our main goal and that’s what he’s going to keep trying to instill in us. That’s gonna come with maturity, time and growth.”
The Wolfpack tips off its season of red reckoning on Monday, Nov. 3 when North Carolina Central visits the Lenovo Center. The game is set for 7 p.m. with streaming available via ACC Network Extra.
