With 3-pointers flying and the basket looking like an ocean for NC State men’s basketball, the Pack earned an impressive 96-78 victory over Wake Forest — its second win in the series this season.

The Wolfpack (16-6, 7-2 ACC) remains undefeated in road conference games this year, playing its best basketball away from Raleigh. Much like an avalanche, once NC State’s shooters started hitting threes, there was nothing that could stop the Wolfpack offense. For now, it marks the Pack’s second Quad 1 victory this season. It also marks NC State’s third-straight victory over the Demon Deacons (11-11, 2-7 ACC) in a series that’s been highly competitive through recent history.

“We’re blessed to be in this position,” said sophomore guard Paul McNeil Jr. “Every game we play is meaningful.”

Leading the way for NC State, sophomore Paul McNeil Jr. racked up 28 points, drilling six of eight 3-pointers. The performance is McNeil’s best in ACC competition this season, a testament to the sophomore’s incredible work ethic.

“We put the work in for it,” McNeil said. “Work’s gonna show, work’s gonna pay off. It doesn’t matter what the defense has got for us, however, the game is going is how the game is going, but we’re just gonna trust our work.”

McNeil began chopping away at Wake Forest’s defense early and often, burying a corner three for NC State’s first points. Senior forward Darrion Williams quickly got involved with two early threes of his own to cap an early 9-0 run, also taking advantage of the corner three. With McNeil and Williams manning the corners, the Wolfpack barraged Wake Forest successfully for a full 40 minutes.

“There was some things with some matchups in the corners that we had looked at on film,” Wade said. “We usually have Darrion kinda roaming up top. We put him in the corner, we put our shooters in the corners, so there were a few matchup things there.”

As a whole, NC State did an excellent job of playing smart offensive basketball. While the spotlight will follow NC State’s success from beyond the arc, the Wolfpack did an excellent job across the board of taking good shots from all spots, leading to a 54% shooting day.

“We can’t control how we shoot it every night, but we can control the quality of the shots we get,” Wade said. “I focus on what we can control, which is the quality of our shots and I think that our shot quality was solid today.”

While the Pack cashed in on its threes all afternoon, the point guards were equally important in setting up opportunities for open shots. One of the Wolfpack’s most effective plays that it ran often was as simple as allowing senior guard Quadir Copeland to drive into the paint, draw the defenders inside and kick the ball to the corner for McNeil or Williams to get an open 3.

“We turned the ball over 15 times the first time; we turned it over eight today,” Wade said. “Tre [Holloman], three assists, no turnovers; [Copeland] 10 assists, one turnover. I thought those guys were tremendous.”

Defensively, NC State did a good job containing the Demon Deacons, with the exception of Juke Harris. Scoring 31 points, Harris found success scoring at all three levels. Outside of redshirt junior Terrance Arceneaux, none of the Pack’s players could slow Harris.

“We couldn’t stop Juke,” Wade said. “I’d like to tell you there was some wonderful strategy behind shutting down all the rest of them, but that was just cause he shot 25 balls, which he should have, he played great.”

The Wolfpack needed today’s win with a gauntlet ahead. Halfway through the ACC slate, NC State will face a nine game stretch that features five Quad 1 opportunities in the final month of the season. There are no more easy wins for the Pack — fortunately for the Wolfpack the team is rounding into its best form and riding a four-game winning streak.

“The back nine is not easy,” Wade said. “We got to continue to improve, continue to get better, continue to do the things that we need to do to allow us to be successful as a team, but I do think we’re making progress.”

The Wolfpack will remain on the road for a key game at SMU, which, much like NC State, has NCAA Tournament expectations. Tipoff is set for Tuesday, Feb. 3, at 9 p.m. on ESPN2.