NC State basketball routs FSU. Top observations from a record-breaking ACC win

Two 50-point halves, including a season-high 56 first-half points, gave N.C. State a 113-69 win for its third ACC win of the season.

Its 113 points were the most allowed by the FSU defense not only this year but the most it has allowed in a home game. The previous record was 111 points against Georgia Tech during the 1998-99 season. The season’s previous high was 107 points given up to Georgia in the ACC-SEC Challenge.

N.C. State’s 44-point margin was the program’s largest margin of victory in an ACC road game in school history.

“Give credit to (coach) Will Wade and North Carolina State, they’ve they obviously have high aspirations to be a really good basketball team,” Florida State first-year head coach Luke Loucks said. “They showed their potential of how good they can be. ... With that being said, from top to bottom, we were terrible tonight.”

The Wolfpack (12-5, 3-1 ACC), which was only a 4.5-point favorite one hour before tipoff, fired on all cylinders from the jump in its second straight road game. It put together one of its best overall performances against a Power Four opponent.

N.C. State matched a program single-game record by making 19 3-pointers, having also hit 19 in a win over N.C. Central in November. The Wolfpack made 19 of 35 (53.4%) against FSU.

Six N.C. State players finished in double figures, with Darrion Williams and Paul McNeil leading the charge. The duo scored 20 and 21 points, respectively, in the blowout win. Williams also finished with a double-double, pulling down 10 rebounds.

N.C. State shot 55% from the field, while the defense held FSU to 39%.

N.C. State jumped to an 11-0 lead to start the game, and extended that to 28 points with three minutes and 21 seconds remaining in the opening half.

The Wolfpack ultimately took a 56-31 advantage into the break, the 25-point lead being its third-largest halftime lead this season.

N.C. State’s offense dismantled the FSU defense. It moved well on and off the ball, recording 10 first-half assists. It ended the game with 20 assists on 38 buckets. Williams and Quadir Copeland combined for 11 assists. Even when shots didn’t fall, the Wolfpack created good opportunities.

“Playing through those [two], keeping those guys with the ball in their hands, has allowed us to have a little bit more success offensively,” Wade said. “I feel like we’ve maybe figured that out, but we’ve got a long way to go.”

Florida State (7-9, 0-3) struggled with the Wolfpack defense early. It was unable to drive inside to take high-efficiency shots for most of the first half or create open looks on the perimeter. At least one Pack defender contested the majority of FSU’s shot attempts.

Additionally, N.C. State shut down passing lanes, which made ball movement and rhythm virtually impossible for the home team. The Seminoles finished with seven assists on 22 made baskets. Loucks’ squad couldn’t break down N.C. State’s defense to force help or create open looks, leading to what he called “patty caking” around the perimeter.

Florida State did not score their first point until after the first media timeout, needing nine and a half minutes to score two field goals. FSU did not find success in the paint until the final four minutes of the first half. The Seminoles started the game 1 for 11 from the field and 1 for 7. It shot 34.6% from the field in the first half.

FSU scored the first eight points of the second half before a solid Wolfpack response that included a 21-3 run to prevent a comeback. It was complete domination down the stretch, as N.C. State’s lead expanded to as many as 45 points.

Wade credited the defense for allowing the offense to settle in and it didn’t, as it has in previous games, allow offensive lulls impact the defensive effort.

Seminoles guard Robert McCray fouled out with 12 ½ minutes remaining and finished with 10 points and one assist. McCray leads Florida State with 13.9 points per game and is one of the best distributors in the country, averaging seven assists per game.

The Wolfpack held FSU’s Chauncey Wiggins to three points and one made basket. He was coming off a career-high 22 points against Duke and scored reached double figures in 11 games.

Loucks said he didn’t think his team, which lost to Duke by just four points last Saturday, played with remotely the same urgency nor did it make good in-game adjustments. He was “extremely surprised” to see his team come out so flat against the Wolfpack.

“N.C. State’s a really good team,” Loucks said. “They’re not 44 points better than us.”

Pack drains it from downtown

N.C. State and Florida State entered the game as two of the ACC’s top 3-point shooting teams, but only one of them looked like it on Saturday.

Quadir Copeland found McNeil for a 3-pointer on the Wolfpack’s first possession of the game. That was the only 3 for almost nine minutes. In fact, it looked like N.C. State’s long range shooting might’ve taken the day off.

Then, the team made seven straight 3s. Matt Able contributed a trio, Williams scored two, and Copeland and Terrence Arceneaux added one each. FSU, to that point, had made two field goals and trailed by 24 points.

Six different Wolfpack players hit a 3-pointer in the first half.

N.C. State’s 3 ball wasn’t quite as active in the second half, but the team was still efficient. It hit more than 50% from the arc in both halves.

Defensively, the Pack held the Noles to three buckets from downtown in the second half.

McNeil and Matt Able, who tied his career high of 15 points, led all scorers with five made 3s. The team’s 19 3s tied the season high, which it set against N.C. Central in the opener.

“Any time you hit 19 3s, you share the ball well,” Wade said. “We didn’t hit a bunch of them off the balance. ”

N.C. State leads the ACC in 3-point shooting, scoring 39% from distance and hitting 10.6 3s per game. The Wolfpack shot 11 of 21 (52.4%) from distance in the first half.

Florida State, meanwhile, averaged 11.6 3-pointers in the team’s first 15 games at a 32.6% clip. The Seminoles went to the locker room with two made 3s on 12 attempts (16.7%). Kobe MaGee was the only FSU player to make a basket from long range in the first half.

Putting bodies on the boards

N.C. State’s rebounding is one of the biggest mid-game indicators of a win. The team is 9-0 when out-rebounding its opponent and 2-5 when losing the rebounding battle.

That held up once again in Tallahassee. The Wolfpack dominated the glass on both ends of the floor, pulling down 25 first-half rebounds with seven offensive. Three offensive rebounds came on the same possession. FSU, meanwhile, only pulled down 10 rebounds in the opening 20 minutes.

In the second half, N.C. State out-rebounded FSU once again and finished with a 44-25 positive rebounding margin. The Pack pulled down 11 offensive rebounds to the Seminoles’ 6.

Ven-Allen Lubin said N.C. State did a good job of limiting them to one shot and keep them off the glass as much as possible.

Florida State pulled down 37.6 rebounds per game this season, particularly efficient on offense. The Seminoles ranked No. 2 in the ACC and No. 21 in the nation with 14.1 offensive rebounds per game.

N.C. State came into Tucker Civic Center at a rebounding disadvantage, pulling down 36.1 boards. It only had 26 on defense and 10.1 on offense.

NC State’s roster is down two against FSU

N.C. State’s depth took another hit on Saturday with Scottie Ebube’s absence, though the Wolfpack handled the Seminoles with ease. The center was unavailable for the matchup in Tallahassee, following a short but effective outing at Boston College.

Ebube entered the Wolfpack’s Tuesday night matchup and shot 2 for 2, both baskets on pump-fake layups, and one steal in four minutes. The Wyoming transfer has played a limited role this season but has gained Will Wade’s respect for his ability to play with an edge and physicality.

“When he’s in there, something’s gonna happen,” Wade said in December, during his now-viral rant after the 108-72 win over Texas Southern. “Somebody’s band is playing. Ours or theirs, but somebody’s playing, something is going to happen.”

Wade said he wanted to play Ebube more often, even if his playing time came in small spurts. The senior played in three of the first seven games. He has played in seven of the last nine.

Tre Holloman also missed the second consecutive game after exiting the Virginia game in the first half. He did not play against the Eagles but traveled with the team. Holloman was spotted in a medical boot and made several baskets at the end of warmups.

Holloman traveled with the team once again on Saturday. He was not in uniform but was not wearing the protective boot. Wade said after the game he hopes the team will be fully healthy next Saturday — its next game — when it hosts Georgia Tech.

This story was originally published January 10, 2026 at 2:25 PM.

Jadyn Watson-Fisher

The News & Observer