Following a 77-76 overtime loss to No. 19 Kansas, NC State men’s basketball suffered a new low. Reality hit — despite a plethora of premier non-conference opportunities, NC State is on the verge of failing to win a high-major game before ACC play begins.
Sometimes however, teams have to hit their lows before they can reach their highs.
For the Wolfpack (7-4), it’s in a valley. Falling short in every opportunity against high major competition, things look bleak for NC State. There’s no signature win, no inspiring moment and nothing to enhance an NCAA Tournament resume.
Yet sometimes, struggles forge a team into its best form. Head coach Will Wade is no stranger to early season adversity. Last year at McNeese State, Wade’s Cowboys started 5-5, with narrow losses to teams like Mississippi State and Alabama. That team went on to win 23 of its 25 remaining games, secured the Southland Conference regular season and tournament championships and earned the first NCAA Tournament win in program history.
“It’s staying together and continuing to progress,” Wade said. “When the scoreboard doesn’t show up, we’ve got to continue to work … if we keep making progress I feel good about where we’ll be at the end of the year.”
For NC State, the situation is similar. They’ve missed out on several opportunities for impressive wins before ACC play begins, with only a home game against Texas Southern and a neutral site matchup against Ole Miss remaining in non conference play — two teams that are outside the top 100 in NET ranking. The sun is setting early on NC State if it continues to miss out on opportunities.
“Look, time’s running out,” Wade said. “I’m not hitting the panic button, but there is an urgency about what we’re doing. We’ve scheduled these games and we haven’t won them and we’ve also played the toughest non-conference schedule in our league, by a pretty wide margin.”
A challenging schedule can mold a team by showing areas to improve — but it can just as easily break a team’s confidence. The key to having a successful season is learning from these losses and remaining confident heading into ACC play.
During its struggles over the last several games, NC State’s biggest flaw so far has been allowing role players to scorch the nets from deep. The latest villain for the Pack was Kansas guard Melvin Council Jr., who popped off for 36 points, including nine 3s. Despite shooting 18.5% from deep entering the day, Council had no issues against the Wolfpack due to NC State’s analytics-based approach that allows open 3s.
“The scouting report on [Council] was just to kind of sag off him a little bit,” said senior forward Ven-Allen Lubin. “Coaches saw that he wasn’t really a good 3-point shooter, so we kind of wanted to dare him to take those shots because we thought it would be good for us.”
The Pack leans heavily into opposing statistical player profiles and to stay back from players with lower shooting percentages — a strategy that’s been in place all season. The issue is, when left open the vast majority of college basketball players can still knock down shots. To fully grow from its struggles, the Wolfpack needs a strategic shift to reduce open 3s, particularly from the corner.
Despite the defensive woes, tonight showed that NC State is growing through the struggles, even if the scoreboard doesn’t indicate it. In its losses to Seton Hall and Auburn, the Pack lacked urgency and effort, losing by double digits as a result. The red-and-white kept it close against Texas, but gave up 102 points — once again failing to bring the defensive intensity needed to win against quality competition.
“The results right now are lagging from our work,” Wade said. “The results haven’t shown on the scoreboard, but we’re massively better than we were 10 days ago when we left Auburn.”
Tonight was different from past losses. From the jump, NC State was fighting for rebounds and making hustle plays that kept the Pack in it against the Jayhawks. Effort that was missing earlier in the year is now fully present and NC State appears much better because of it. With effort in place, the Wolfpack can now focus on executing to take the next step.
“I don’t think today was an effort issue,” Wade said. “It was more of execution and that sort of thing.”
Additionally, the bus driver for NC State is emerging. While senior forward Darrion Williams was expected to be the Wolfpack’s alpha, it’s becoming clear that senior guard Quadir Copeland is the straw that stirs the drink. Copeland delivered on both ends of the floor, unafraid to take big shots and to pursue the toughest defensive assignments.
“[Copeland’s] very vocal, tries to get everybody confident,” Williams said. “Gets a little crazy out there as you can see, when he gets all excited. But he’s a great player, he wants to win really bad, so I think that’s his best quality.”
There’s no sugarcoating NC State’s 7-4 start — it’s not up to the standard that fans or Wade set before the season. However, despite losing to the Jayhawks, the Wolfpack showed a glimmer of hope tonight. Now it’s up to NC State to build off of its improved effort and emerging team roles so that it can begin earning wins on the scoreboard, rather than moral victories.
