NC State basketball loses to Notre Dame. Observations from a stunning defeat

All the numbers said N.C. State should’ve blown out Notre Dame on Saturday. But, at this time of the year, numbers don’t matter.

With plenty to play for, Notre Dame put the “fight” in Fighting Irish, defeating the Wolfpack, 96-90, in overtime at Purcell Pavilion.

Notre Dame guard Jalen Haralson went to the line with 19.1 seconds left in regulation time down 81-79. He made both free throws. Cole Certa, who averages 12.1 points per game, hit a trio of 3s in overtime not only giving the Irish their first lead of the game but propelling the Irish to the upset win.

The Wolfpack (19-10, 10-6 ACC) did not score for the final 3 ½ minutes of regulation and were out-scored 15-9 in overtime.

“Give Notre Dame credit. They’ve got great players,” N.C. State head coach Will Wade said. “They picked up mismatches all night; did a great job with that. Coach (Micah) Shrewsberry is a phenomenal coach and did a good job getting Haralson downhill. We lost Certa early in the game. They did a better job picking the mismatches than we did.”

Certa led all scorers with 32 points, just five points shy of his career high set against Georgia Tech two weeks ago.

Haralson returned to the Notre Dame (13-16, 4-12 ACC) lineup after missing three straight games and made a splash. He finished with 25 points. He has been the Irish’s leading scorer (15.5 point per game) since star guard Markus Burton suffered an ankle injury that required surgery in December.

“He can put the defense in rotation, and their other guards are good players, but those other guards can’t put the defense in rotation like he can,” Wade said. “Having him just adds a totally different dynamic to what they do and to how they do it. He was phenomenal tonight.”

The Irish shot 52.5% from the field and 48% from the perimeter.

The Wolfpack made 46.3% of its field goal attempts and finished just 29.4% from 3. It started the game 7 for 12 on 3-point shots before closing out 3 of 22.

N.C. State has shot below 30% from the arc in three of the last five games.

Ven-Allen Lubin, whose return to Notre Dame was spoiled by the loss, led the Wolfpack with 24 points and 10 rebounds. Quadir Copeland and Darrion Williams finished with 17 points each.

The loss has serious implications for the Wolfpack’s ACC and NCAA Tournament seeding. N.C. State desperately needed a win on Saturday if it wanted to stay in the top 4 seeds. Now, the Pack must win out to earn the double bye into the ACC Tournament quarterfinals. That won’t be easy to come by. It has a date with No. 1 Duke at home on Monday. Duke blew out Virginia, 77-51, on Saturday to clinch the ACC Tournament’s top seed. And Virginia blew out N.C. State on Tuesday.

Entering the game, Notre Dame was in a three-way tie with Pittsburgh and Boston College at 3-12 in the league. The Irish remain in contention for an ACC Tournament spot because they play Stanford and Boston College in the final two games of the regular season.

“N.C. State does some different stuff with how they switch and how you’ve got to attack. They take you out of a lot of things.” Shrewsberry said. “There’s a lot of ‘Sandlot’ out there for us, and these guys just being basketball players and making plays, that’s the fun part.”

Sagnia leaves game with injury

Freshman forward Musa Sagnia entered the game in the first half and played two minutes before leaving the game with an apparent right ankle injury. He limped off the court, receiving help from freshman guard Matt Able.

He sat at the end of the bench for several minutes before heading back to the locker room. He missed the remainder of the game.

The Wolfpack either shifted its rotation or went to center Scottie Ebube in the second period.

Sagnia briefly left the Wolfpack’s game against North Carolina with an injury but returned and finished with three points, two rebounds, two blocks and one steal in 13 minutes.

Sagnia plays limited minutes for the Wolfpack, but his absence impacts the team’s frontcourt depth.

Offense moves with Copeland on the floor

After playing just 22 minutes against Virginia due to foul trouble, Copeland remained on the floor for the majority of N.C. State’s game at Notre Dame.

He played 42 minutes and had success as a scorer and distributor. The Pack went to Copeland on a number of possessions, allowing him to play 1-on-1 against defenders. Copeland ran through the Notre Dame defense and had opportunities to pick and choose whether he wanted to drive inside or find an open man. He did both well.

There were also fewer quick-trigger shots in this game, with him guiding the offense, something that plagued the team at Virginia on Tuesday night.

The Wolfpack desperately needed his size and physicality to guide its offense when the defensive effort lacked toughness.

In fact, Wade believes his foul trouble hurt the Pack on Tuesday against Virginia. Wade said on Thursday during his radio show that N.C. State likely would’ve lost, but its margin would’ve been smaller.

“When we don’t have him in, it’s a lot harder for us to get open shots,” Wade said. “We can’t get the defense in rotation, we can’t get clean looks, so that’s the bigger issue of not having him in — our shot quality goes drastically down.”

The Irish switched to a zone defense in the second half, which limited Copeland and the rest of the team’s scoring down the stretch.

Wade said that was a great decision by Notre Dame’s coaching staff.

Copeland ultimately fouled out with 19.2 second left in overtime after Wade told him to foul to regain possession. The senior also finished with nine assists in the lost. N.C. State had been 14-4 when Copeland has six or more assists and was 9-0 when he dished out at least nine.

Pack defense lacks urgency

N.C. State’s defense struggled to contain Notre Dame, which responded to all of the Wolfpack’s runs.

The Irish trailed 11-2 in the first 3 ½ minutes of play before Certa scored three straight 3s to cut N.C. State’s lead to two points. They cut the lead to one point three times in the middle of the opening period before Haralson made a layup to tie the game at 25 all.

The Irish shot 56% from the field and 46.2% in the first half, going into the locker room with a 44-38 deficit.

The Wolfpack, again, jumped to a nine-point lead in the second half but gave up an 8-0 run.

Notre Dame ended regulation on a 7-0 run to force OT.

N.C. State looked soft at times, lacking the physicality it has shown in previous contests. It didn’t have foul trouble to blame, either. Able picked up his fourth foul with 10 ½ minutes to play and was the only Pack player with three or more fouls at that point.

It forced 12 turnovers, but the Pack lacked intensity that could’ve allowed the Wolfpack to control the game.

Notre Dame deserves credit for making tough plays. Several players made shots over defenders — Braeden Shrewsberry hit a 3 over Lubin to make it a six-point game with 15 minutes to play — and broke hard double teams to find open shooters.

This continues a recent trend for N.C. State’s defense. The Wolfpack entered Purcell Pavilion having given up 369 points in its last four road games. Wake Forest, which scored 78, was the only opponent to finish under 80 in that stretch. N.C. State has allowed opponents to shoot at least 47% from the floor, with Louisville hitting 60%.

This story was originally published February 28, 2026 at 2:39 PM.

Jadyn Watson-Fisher

The News & Observer