How summer prep, small changes lifted NC State basketball past Wake Forest

For nearly two months of the season, N.C. State’s best wins came against Virginia Commonwealth and Boise State. Its NCAA Tournament resume didn’t feature any major wins. It didn’t pick up its first Power Four victory until late December.

After its 96-78 win over Wake Forest on Saturday, the Wolfpack has hit the halfway point of ACC play. It holds a 7-2 conference record, including a perfect 5-0 on the road, and a pair of Quad 1 wins.

N.C. State, for its imperfections and early season challenges, appears to be trending in the right direction. Its improved offensive performance against the Demon Deacons provided one such example, its shooting and passing vastly better Saturday than one month ago.

“We weren’t very good in the first game against Wake. We were very fortunate to win,” N.C. State head coach Will Wade said. “They missed a lot of open shots. Our offense was pretty poor. I think that you want to continue to get better as the season goes on, and hopefully we can continue to get better. We’re at the halfway mark now. We started with the one over Wake. We ended with the one over Wake.”

Part of its improvement came from an altered routine, Wade said. N.C. State entered the season struggling in its early games. It is 4-2 in ACC play when playing at noon or earlier. Most of the games, including the wins, featured sluggish starts on both ends of the floor.

Wade said Thursday he met with his staff to adjust the pregame routines and sleep patterns, hoping to get better results when the team plays in the early afternoon. The team was forced to make quicker adjustments after its 3:45 p.m. tipoff was moved to noon because of winter weather.

N.C. State limited the amount of practice during the back half of the week. Film and practice on Friday lasted one hour and two minutes. The team was allowed to sleep in for an additional 45 minutes Saturday.

The team also changed other aspects of its pregame morning routine. Wade thinks his group had a “decent start” against the Deacs.

It took about three minutes before N.C. State made its first bucket, but it scored with ease after the first media timeout. The Wolfpack finished the first half with five stretches of at least two consecutive field goals — one of which included five straight makes — and the Deacs finished with two.

When accounting for free throws, N.C. State had seven first-half instances of consecutive scoring possessions. Wake went to the locker room with three.

Paul McNeil said the extra rest helped the team. He led the Wolfpack with 28 points, while Darrion Williams added 20. Tre Holloman and Ven-Allen Lubin contributed double digits.

“It’s just a time of the season where everything’s pretty monotonous,” Wade added. “The way we do things two days out, one day out, everything’s very monotonous. If you can break that monotony and give them a little pop — they responded well. Proud of them.”

On the road again

The victory places N.C. State toward the top of the conference and joins Duke as the only teams that are 5-0 on the road this ACC season. Clemson is also undefeated on the road at 4-0.

McNeil said this is not particularly surprising, even with the slower start to the season, because the team trusts its preparation. It performed “road games” over the summer that featured early mornings and scrimmages to prepare for these moments. They woke up at 5:30 a.m., performed the walkthroughs, warmups, scrimmages and replicate environments — all things typically required for early game days — and those continue to pay dividends.

“I think we found a rhythm. We’ve got a good rhythm. We’ve got a good way about us,” Wade said. “Every season is going to have its ups and downs. It took me, as a head coach, longer than most years to kind of figure out how to play this group. We had some curveballs. Some of the things weren’t exactly as we thought, so we had to find some ways to play these guys, so I’m very proud.”

What lies ahead for NC State

The Wolfpack will put its growth and road warrior mindset to the test in the coming weeks. The second half of the league schedule features four games on the road. Next week, it faces SMU at Moody Coliseum in Dallas. N.C. State has five more Quad 1 opportunities and matchups with seven of the top eight teams in the ACC, as well.

None of the remaining teams ranks outside the top 100 in the NET or KenPom rankings. Stanford, which is the lowest ranked team remaining, has a winning record this season and is tied for 10th in the conference standings. Six sit in the top 50 of both rankings.

If N.C. State can continue its upward momentum and pick up a few big wins, the team has a shot at favorable seeding in the conference tournament and a chance to make the postseason.

“The back stretch, the back nine, is not easy. We’ve got to continue to improve, continue to get better, and continue to do the things that we need to do to allow us to be successful as a team,” Wade said, noting some of the defensive lapses against Wake Forest. “But I do think we’re making progress. I mean, look, you put 96 points up on the road. That’s hard to do, so our guys did a good job.”

This story was originally published February 1, 2026 at 6:15 AM.