N.C. State men bounce back, earn road win in OT against No. 18 Clemson
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- N.C. State ended Clemson's 14-game home winning streak, 80-76 in overtime.
- Wolfpack moved to 3-0 on the road in ACC play, bouncing back from loss.
- Clemson's nine-game season streak halted despite RJ Godfrey's interior scoring.
Clemson turned Littlejohn Coliseum into a fortress, a place where none of its opponents had won this season.
That changed on Tuesday when N.C. State rolled into town.
The Wolfpack, days off a gutting home loss to Georgia Tech, snapped the No. 18 Tigers’ 14-game home winning streak with an 80-76 overtime victory. N.C. State’s bounce-back victory moved the team to 3-0 on the road in ACC play.. The Tigers (16-4, 6-1 ACC) had won nine straight and not lost since early December.
“We’re going to go in there,” N.C. State head coach Will Wade said on Monday, “and I think you’ll see a team that’s going to play hard, and a team that’s going to be a little bit better with our attention to detail.”
The Wolfpack (13-6, 4-2 ACC) achieved that goal, but a second-half scoring drought of nearly nine minutes nearly cost it a much-needed victory.
“Just knowing that they haven’t lost the game at home and they’ve been very successful here, it’s just really important for us to get this win,” Ven-Allen Lubin said. “We want to be consistent and keep going up from here.“
That stretch without a field goal allowed Clemson to tie the game on Carter Welling’s two free throws. Then, the Tigers retook the lead for the first time since the 11:30 mark in the first half on RJ Godfrey’s layup.
“Godfrey’s one of the best,” Wade said on Monday. “Godfrey is one of the best post scorers in the country, top 35 in the country in terms of post scoring.”
The senior was held to four points in the first half, but he contributed clutch shots in the second half that put pressure on the Wolfpack. Godfrey led the Tigers with 16 points.
Ultimately, the Wolfpack forced overtime and outscored the Tigers 11-7 to hold on for the victory.
“I didn’t know if we had it in us or not, if I’m being truthful,” Wade said on Tuesday night. “[It was] good to see us have that in us and play with some poise and execute in a tough environment. It was good for us to do that.”
The two teams got off to a hot start and scored a combined 30 points in the first six minutes, with both shooting over 50% from the field. N.C. State’s defense played with more energy and focus and held Clemson to 17 points in the final 14 minutes of the first half.
Darrion Williams struggled in the first half, shooting 3 of 12 (25%) from the field, but the rest of the team shot 12 of 19 (63%). Roughly seven minutes into the game, five N.C. State players had scored two field goals. Matt Able, Quadir Copeland and Lubin started a combined 6 for 6.
The Wolfpack’s offensive efficiency, paired with its defensive pressure, allowed it to take an 11-point lead. Clemson used two baskets in the final minute of the half to cut the Pack advantage to five points. N.C. State scored 38 first-half points, 10 more than what the Tigers defense has allowed on average in the first half this season.
N.C. State struggled to maintain the same defensive pressure at times in the second half, giving up 24 points in 12 minutes of play. Even when it increased the defensive effort again, its inability to make shots made things dicey before the game headed to overtime.
N.C. State went 22 for 25 (88%) from the free-throw line, which buoyed the Wolfpack when field goals weren’t hitting.
“It was good, being resilient,” said Darrion Williams. “Make or miss shots, we have to get stops and then we’ve got to make free throws, which we ended up doing.”
Balanced attack from both sides
The N.C. State and Clemson defenses had their work cut out for them, thanks to well-rounded efforts from both offenses.
Seven different Wolfpack players scored, and four finished in double figures. Seven different Clemson players scored in the first half, and Clemson ended with eight different scorers. Three Clemson players finished in double figures.
Both squads are very much a “sum of its parts” type that need contributions from several players to have success. But their scoring depth also means things can be difficult for opponents.
Lubin’s 22-point game, paired with 17 points from Williams, 16 points from Copeland and 10 from Paul McNeil ended up being enough to upset the Tigers.
Lubin scored a pair of free throws with 18 seconds remaining in overtime to give N.C. State a two-possession lead.
“We needed everybody. I thought that we had a lot of guys step up,” Wade said. “Darrion made plays. Q made plays. Paul made some great plays. Ven obviously made great plays. I thought Matt Able really grew up tonight, and I thought he was very steady in a tough environment. [Terrance] Arceneaux did some good things for us defensively, and he had a huge 3 in the corner. We had a lot of guys step up.”
In addition to Godfrey’s 16 points, Welling scored 14 points and Ace Buckner added 12 for Clemson.
Pack forces big turnovers
Clemson and N.C. State entered the game as two of the best teams in the nation in fewest turnovers committed.
The Tigers averaged 9.6 turnovers per game, which ranked No. 17 in the country and led the ACC. It committed a turnover on just 14.4% of its possessions.
On the other side, the Wolfpack defense entered the game forcing 14.4 turnovers per game, or creating a miscue on 20.2% of its defensive possessions. The offense came into the contest committing 9.9 turnovers — third in the ACC — and leading the league with a 4.4 turnover margin.
N.C. State forced eight first-half turnovers and scored nine points off Clemson’s errors. The Tigers hit the nine turnover mark on their first possession of the second half.
“I thought our turnovers were killers, obviously points off turnovers,” Clemson head coach Brad Brownell said. “I didn’t think our guards played as well tonight as they’ve been playing.”
Clemson finished with 13 turnovers, which N.C. State turned into 19 points. On offense, the Pack only committed seven turnovers of their own. This remains one of the Wolfpack’s greatest strengths and kept them in competitive all night.
“They bludgeoned us on the glass,” Wade said, alluding to Clemson’s 38-30 rebounding advantage. “You don’t have to be a great rebounding team, and we’re not, but you have to make up for it in other ways. Turnover margin is a big portion.”
Hitting big 3s
N.C. State is the best 3-point shooting team in the ACC. Clemson ranks toward the middle of the conference. On Tuesday, both teams shot the ball well from deep and turned the game into a 3-point contest.
The Wolfpack hit 6 of 14 (42.9%) from deep in the opening half. Paul McNeil made half of the team’s opening 3s to score nine in the first half. His first 3-point shot tied the game at 8-8, McNeil’s second put N.C. State up three and his third provided an eight-point lead.
Clemson went 4 for 10 in the first half — better than its 33.1% during ACC play — but turned up the heat in the second half. The Tigers started 4 of 7 (57%) from beyond the arc after the break and finished 9-28 (32%).
N.C. State’s perimeter shooting cooled off dramatically in the second half. It made 1 of 7 3-point shots and ended the game 8-23 (34.8%).
This story was originally published January 20, 2026 at 9:54 PM.
