NC State gets hot in second half. Observations from Wolfpack’s ACC win over Pitt

N.C. State head coach Will Wade came off the bench at the first media timeout during Saturday’s road game against Pitt, screaming and pointing at his players, incensed by their apparent lack of intensity.

The Wolfpack looked sluggish to start its road matinée, a complete reversal from the team’s impressive effort Tuesday to hand Clemson its first loss in ACC play and first home loss.

The Pack’s initial effort and overall performance felt like a hangover from its big win, but it recovered sufficiently for N.C. State to post an 81-72 ACC win over the Panthers.

“We got off to a really slow start,” Wade said during his postgame radio show. The Wolfpack did not hold a news conference as it had an immediate departure from Pittsburgh. “Quite frankly, not the effort that we would like, but we’re never going to apologize for winning. There’s a little bit more luck involved in this than you would like, but we’re going to get back to Raleigh as quick as we can and take the win.”

The Wolfpack’s start was the antithesis of what the team had said it wanted.

“We can’t just go into Pitt thinking we’re gonna win,” N.C. State’s Darrion Williams said Tuesday night. “We’ve got to go earn it, just like we did today.”

It took the Wolfpack some time Saturday, but it did indeed earn an important follow-up win. Paul McNeil, Ven-Allen Lubin and Quadir Copeland served as catalysts for the N.C. State offense in the second half. The trio made clutch shots after the team trailed by five with roughly nine minutes to play.

The Pack went on a 12-0 run, part of a larger 15-2 run, to take an eight-point lead. McNeil hit back-to-back 3s to go up six points. Of the 15 points, McNeil contributed nine. N.C. State ended the game with eight made shots on its last nine attempts.

Copeland led the team with 20 points, nine assists and added three rebounds. McNeil and Lubin scored 15 and 17 points, respectively.

“His usage rate was a little high because Darrion [Williams] was in foul trouble,” Wade said of Copeland. “That wasn’t really a plan, but we had to use Q quite a bit. Really nice job. There were a couple ill-advised shots, but for the most part, he was really good.”

Lubin was relatively quiet on the boards in the first half. He increased his intensity down the stretch and pulled down seven in the second half to finish with 12, giving the senior his fifth double-double of the season.

N.C. State (14-6, 5-2 ACC) needed contributions from everyone to get the win. All eight players scored and grabbed a rebound.

The Pack’s late-game efforts lifted it past the struggling Panthers (8-12, 1-6) to escape with another much-needed win. It outscored the Panthers, 47-39, in the second half.

“We did a good job getting some better mismatches, getting the ball down the hill,” Wade said. “Figured out something against the way they were covering our porch action, which got Paul loose for the 3, got Q loose downhill. They adjusted on that, and we were able to go back to something else that worked a little earlier in the game. Give our guys credit. We had to do a lot of different things on the fly today.”

Roman Siulepa dominated the game for Pitt, pacing the team in scoring and rebounding. The rookie scored 15 points on 5-of-9 shooting and collected a career-high 13 rebounds.

Damarco Minor went 0 for 5 in the first half, but then he hit a pair of 3s to start the second and gave the Panthers a six-point lead with 17½ minutes remaining in the game. Minor finished with 13 points.

Panthers dominate the glass

N.C. State can point to a handful of blemishes in its performance Saturday, but its rebounding effort will likely be circled in red marker.

Pitt jumped out to a 12-5 advantage off the glass after the first five minutes of play, including seven offensive rebounds. Siulepa grabbed five boards, including three, by the first media timeout. The freshman from Australia averages 6.8 rebounds per game.

It was a rough start and a rough outing overall in the rebound department for N.C. State.

The Panthers bettered their rebounding advantage in the next three minutes and extended their lead to 10 boards. Pitt’s early command on the glass played a key role in its ability to take a 13-4 lead.

The Wolfpack trailed the Panthers off the glass, 29-15, at halftime. Of Pitt’s rebounds, 14 were on the offensive glass and the home team scored 12 second-chance points.

N.C. State, despite a better performance late, was out-rebounded 52-31 and gave up a season-high 26 offensive rebounds. The Panthers scored 24 second-chance points.

Wade said the Panthers “just annihilated us.”

“They set the tone very well the beginning of the game. It started there,” Wade said. “Did a poor job, and they got us on some crossmatches. We’re supposed to rebound down. Our guards didn’t rebound down. We didn’t have nearly enough guard defensive rebounds. Thought we were a little bit better in the second half. … Just really poor effort. Going to get that fixed before Tuesday.”

The Pack only committed eight turnovers, which limited the damage.

“You give up 26 offensive rebounds, you better not turn that thing over,” Wade said. “We were fortunate in that regard.”

Pitt entered the game averaging 30.7 rebounds per game in ACC play, ranking No. 16 in the conference, and 10.3 on the offensive end.

N.C. State, meanwhile, has been one of the better defensive rebounding teams. It averages 24 defensive boards per ACC contest, and only gives up an offensive board on 26.5% of opponent opportunities.

The Wolfpack is now 4-6 when the opponent collects more rebounds.

3-point defense

N.C. State has lamented the number of 3s the defense has allowed. In six of the past seven games, opponents made eight or more 3-pointers. Virginia topped that list with 13.

On the season and in conference play, the Wolfpack gives up a 3-point attempt on 48% of its opponent field goal attempts.

That trend continued in Pittsburgh, but despite the number of 3s taken by Jeff Capel’s crew, N.C. State’s defense caught a break in the first half. The Panthers started the game 0-5 from the field, all of which were 3-point attempts, and missed as many as nine straight 3s. It took Pitt nearly seven minutes to make its first three and 17 minutes of game time to make two.

The Panthers, who struggle from the perimeter, went to the break making 3 of 16 3-point attempts (18.8%), more than 12% lower than its average in ACC play and about 15% lower than its season average.

Pitt started the second half 4 of 7 from deep (57.1%) to retake the lead.

It ended the game 11 of 29 (37.9%) from the perimeter.

Pack gets into foul trouble

With roughly eight minutes left in the game, fouls against N.C. State started to get concerning. Officials called Darrion Williams and Musa Sagnia for their fourth fouls with nearly 10 minutes to play. Copeland was called for his third about a minute and a half later.

The Wolfpack runs the lion’s share of its offense through Williams and Copeland, who at the time of his third foul call had dished out seven assists. Williams had recorded a pair of assists to that point.

Sagnia was one of the only players at the time of his fourth foul who was positive in the plus/minus. The freshman contributed three steals, including two on jump ball plays, and a block.

Williams and Sagnia went to the bench, while Copeland remained in the game. Copeland was called for a charge with 3½ minutes left in the game, giving him his fourth foul and sending the senior to the bench. He fouled out with less than 30 seconds remaining.

This story was originally published January 24, 2026 at 2:38 PM.

Jadyn Watson-Fisher

The News & Observer