NC State basketball stays red hot in ACC play. How the Pack rallied past SMU

Fans all across Moody Coliseum stood in shock at the final buzzer Tuesday night after N.C. State’s Tre Holloman blocked BJ Edwards’ would-be game winner to give the Wolfpack its sixth straight ACC road win.

Holloman’s defensive stop in the final seconds allowed the Wolfpack to defeat the Mustangs, 84-83, in a back-and-forth ACC basketball game.

Having rallied from a 13-point deficit to lead by as many as 12 in the second half, N.C. State (17-6, 8-2 ACC) held on to win, giving the program its first five-game regular season ACC winning streak since 2020-21.

“We should have confidence from that, but you have to have humility, as well,” N.C. State head coach Will Wade said, referring to the team’s current streak. “The humility comes from [the fact] there’s a lot of stuff we can get better at. … We should take confidence from how we’re playing, how we’re finding ways to win, how we’re doing it. But, you have to have a humility about you, that if we don’t get this stuff fixed, then there’s going to be problems. It’s going to be problems down the road. There’s no rest for the weary.”

Darrion Williams led the Wolfpack with 25 points while Quadir Copeland had 16 assists and 10 rebounds.

N.C. State’s defense has been a strength this season and the team entered the SMU game holding its last 14 opponents under 80 points. Nine were held under 75 points, and opposing ACC teams averaged 72 points scored against the Wolfpack.

One caveat? Its success came, primarily, against the bottom half of the league.

N.C. State’s combined opponent record in ACC play is 32-49, while SMU’s combined opponent record is 45-28. The Mustangs (15-7, 4-5 ACC) record includes contests against six of the conference’s top 10 teams.

The Wolfpack’s weaknesses were exposed early against SMU, as the Pack gave up easy drives to the basket, open shots on the perimeter to trail 42-29 late in the first half.

Despite its blemishes, N.C. State walked away with a major Quad 1 win.

Much of the first half was a back-and-forth track meet with the two teams trading points and trash talk, neither making major runs or taking a lead larger than two possessions.

A 10-0 run over the course of 90 seconds, however, gave SMU an 13-point lead, and it looked like it had all the momentum.

The Wolfpack offense, led by Williams, opened the second half with two quick buckets. Its defense, however, also gave up a pair of makes.

N.C. State settled in as the half went on, using a 9-0 run to take its first lead since the 13:29 mark in the first half. The Wolfpack led 76-64 with 6:50 to play in the game.

“The style of basketball that they play, we knew it was gonna be an up and down game,” Williams said. “They were gonna make some runs, but we knew not to get out of how we play. We didn’t want to play like they play. We knew we’d come back at some point, and once we started rolling — we’ve got to do a better job not letting them back at the end — I knew we were gonna win.”

SMU’s late game-pushes, and the Pack’s inability to fully stop the Mustangs, made things dicey down the stretch. N.C. State overcame the issues, though, and got the win.

“This is an NCAA team,” Copeland said of SMU, which hasn’t made the tournament since 2017. “I feel like this is a great team. They’ve got great players, they got skilled players, they got people that can go. We’re ready for these environments. We’re ready for these times.”

Here are some observations from the Wolfpack’s latest win.

Pack keeps letting it fly

SMU knew it had to shut down the Wolfpack’s 3-point shooting to have a chance at winning.

“They’re an outstanding 3-point shooting team. Four guys average 14 points a game, so they’re unique in that they can score on all positions at a pretty significant level,” Enfield said on Monday during the weekly ACC coaches call. “They run a lot of ISO action for their guards — their big guards and Williams — they put pressure on your defense. We have to guard the 3-point line. They’re very good offensively, and they have good size of the guard spot.”

The Mustangs limited N.C. State’s baskets from distance in the first half, but they couldn’t do that the whole night.

The Wolfpack started the game 2 for 2 from 3, but the shots were inconsistent for the rest of the first half. It went to the locker room after shooting 6 of 18 (33%) from the arc.

Matt Able and Paul McNeil shot a combined 1 for 8 in the opening half. McNeil’s only 3 came five minutes into play and gave the Wolfpack a 10-7 lead.

N.C. State’s hot shooting showed up in the second half, though. With eight minutes to play, the Pack made 9 of 13 shots from deep to take a nine point lead. It finished 16-36 (44%) from 3-point range.

McNeil finished with a trio of 3s. Able added two, including one from the corner 3 to give N.C. State a one-point lead with 11 minutes to go. That ultimately changed the momentum of the game.

The Wolfpack entered the contest leading the ACC in 3-point shooting, hitting 41.2% of its 3-point attempts in conference play.

As a team, the Wolfpack takes a 3-pointer on 42% of its field goal attempts, unafraid of letting it fly. It boasts 11 games of 10 or more 3-pointers, including a pair with 19. Four contests with double figures in 3-point shooting took place in the opening nine games of ACC play. It shot 57.1% from 3 in its win at Wake Forest on Saturday.

Emotions run high

When someone thinks of ACC basketball rivalries, N.C. State and second-year member SMU don’t typically come to mind. But, their meeting felt a lot like a game against North Carolina or Duke than one would expect from the league’s Texas contingent.

The Wolfpack and Mustangs barked at each other all evening, with chirping coming from multiple players. Copeland, Williams and Holloman were all guilty of being the primary trash talkers for the Pack, while Miller and Edwards did the talking for SMU.

When Able made a layup through traffic and drew a foul, Sam Walters tried to walk through the N.C. State huddle and shoved Holloman in the back. Officials separated the two teams, and the Wolfpack was given a delay of game for not immediately lining up for Able’s free throw.

Copeland wasn’t shy in admitting the chippiness motivates him. His coaches and teammates know it, too, and they help keep in check before things get too heated.

“They do a good job calming me down when I’m on the court,” Copeland said. “There’s a level I can go to and then there’s a level where they know they got to pull me back.”

SMU shows offensive balance

Four SMU players have reached double figures in 19 of its 21 games this season. It reached five double-digit scorers in seven games. The Mustangs showed off that balance against the Wolfpack.

Jaron Pierre, last season’s Conference USA Player of the Year at Jacksonville State, paced the Mustangs against N.C. State with 25 points, surpassing his season average of 17 points per game.

Boopie Miller, the former Wake Forest guard, added 12 points. He leads the Mustangs in scoring on the season and has surpassed the 10-point mark in every appearance this season.

Corey Washington and Edwards added 11 points each. Washington made a 3-pointer with 59 seconds remaining to cut the N.C. State lead to three points.

This story was originally published February 3, 2026 at 11:40 PM.