NC State beat SMU to extend win streak. Why Quadir Copeland gets a lot of credit

Quadir Copeland, drenched in sweat – and probably a water bottle bath – draped his arm around one of the Moody Coliseum ushers who had watched the door to the locker room all night Tuesday. His smile was huge.

The guard hadn’t stopped grinning since N.C. State walked off the court after defeating SMU, 84-83, in a hard-fought, tug-of-war game. He grinned as he signed a young Wolfpack fan’s jersey.

It was a night to remember.

Copeland has received a lot of attention this year. He’s been the subject of many features, in print and in video. He’s got the personality and the big performances.

Just last week, all eyes were on the guard when Syracuse played in Raleigh. He started his college basketball career with the Orange, before being recruited by Will Wade, then at McNeese State. Copeland was called a “cockroach” by his coach after his contributions against Ole Miss to close the regular season.

Once again, he delivered a memorable performance and it’s one that will glow on the Wolfpack’s NCAA Tournament resume.

Copeland and Boopie Miller are, statistically, the two best distributing point guards in the ACC. After Tuesday, Miller remains one of the top guards. There’s no question about that. But, unfortunately for Miller and the Mustangs, Copeland stole the show on their home court.

The Wolfpack guard flirted with a triple-double for the second time this season, finishing with seven points, 10 rebounds, 16 assists and no turnovers. He accounted for 84% of the team’s 19 dimes.

“I don’t want to be like hyperbole, but I don’t know if I’ve ever had 16 assists, no turnovers, a double-double with rebounds and assists,” Wade said. “I’d have to think long and hard.”

Copeland is the first ACC guard to reach the 16-assist threshold without losing possession since 1997. He was four assists shy of the school’s single-game record, which is Chris Corchiani’s 20-assist performance for the Pack against Maryland on Feb. 27, 1991.

“They did a good job clogging the paint for me on my drives, so I just trusted my teammates, like I do every game, man,” Copeland said. “They stuck with it. You know, even when shots weren’t falling in the beginning, I told them, ‘Keep firing,’ and they led the way.”

Wade told the team SMU gave up 16 or more assists in their four ACC losses. That was their goal for the night.

“I told him in the locker room after the game, I didn’t mean you personally get 16 assists, but that’s nice,” Wade said.

N.C. State has recorded a positive assist-to-turnover ratio in eight straight games — the team finished with only seven turnovers — and recorded at least 19 assists in three consecutive contests.

Copeland has finished with at least 10 assists in three games this season, two of which took place in as many games. In the last five matchups, the senior averaged 10 assists per game. His lowest production was six assists against Clemson.

The Pack’s leader was already No. 6 in the country in assist rate (42.1%), according to KenPom, and averaging 2.5 assists for every one turnover. Both numbers are bound to increase after his stellar performance.

Turning dimes into 3s

The assists only tell part of the story, though. Copeland’s dimes were valuable, because the majority led to 3-pointers.

Copeland notched 12 assists, or 75% of his total, on 3-point baskets. Two were second-chance 3-point shots.

Combined with his own shooting, Copeland scored or assisted on 51 of N.C. State’s points.

Darrion Williams finished with 25 points to lead all players. Of his eight made baskets, six were on balls dished out by his teammate. Similarly, Copeland passed the ball to Matt Able for the go-ahead corner 3, which N.C. State turned into a win.

“Even with his personality, I’ve never met somebody like him, but he’s great to have on your team,” Williams said. “I know it’s probably annoying when he’s not on your team.”

Wade was upfront about the fact he never imagined Copeland would ever have a performance like this. The two have shared about the rocky start to their relationship, and the growing pains Copeland went through at McNeese State.

“He still has some moments, but never in a million years could I have imagined he’d be able to come on the road and against a team that was in the Top 25, that is a great team, and have 16 assists and no turnovers,” Wade said. “Shoot, he couldn’t do that on [East Texas A&M] last year. How could I have thought he could do it in the ACC?”

The head coach praised Copeland for taking instruction, working on his physical skills, mental prep and intangible factors that led up to this moment.

Building a resume

Now, Copeland is spearheading the effort to rebuild N.C. State basketball. The Wolfpack sits at 17-6 overall and 8-2 in ACC play (though Wade, admittedly, wishes the team hadn’t blown the Georgia Tech game). It still has multiple opportunities to earn an NCAA Tournament bid.

It ranks No. 4 in the ACC standings, behind Duke, Clemson and Virginia, with the head-to-head win over the Tigers. ESPN’s Bracketology has the Pack hovering around a No. 9 or No. 10 seed in the tournament, and it earned its third Quad 1 win. If the tournament started today, N.C. State and SMU would probably be in.

But, there are still a number of games to play.

N.C. State is by no means guaranteed a spot, and it entered Texas with the second-hardest remaining strength of schedule in the ACC. It’s a cliche, but the Wolfpack really believes it has to take one game at a time in order to reach its goals.

“I’m not really trying to think too much ahead or think too much even in the past,” Copeland said. “Just trying to move on from this. Sixteen assists felt good, but tomorrow we’re back in the gym like nothing happened.”

“I don’t think we’re anywhere close to where we need to be,” Williams added. “We make a lot of mistakes, offensive and defensively, wasting possessions and just a lot of stuff. We can get better. We don’t want to be hitting our peak now. We’d rather be hitting our peak in a little bit, in a few weeks.”

This story was originally published February 4, 2026 at 6:05 AM.