11 AM Tip for Pack and 21st-ranked Virginia Saturday at Lenovo Center

Saturday, January 3

Raleigh, NC

11 AM

NC State

Virginia

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11 AM Tip for Pack and 21st-ranked Virginia Saturday at Lenovo Center

1/2/2026 12:09:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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NC State Game Notes | Virginia Game Notes

RALEIGH N.C. – The NC State men's basketball team (11-4, 1-0) hosts 21^st-ranked Virginia (11-2, 0-1) Saturday morning at 11 a.m. inside the Lenovo Center.

The game against the Cavaliers will be televised on ESPN2. NC State fans can also listen to Matt Chazanow and Chucky Brown call the action on the Wolfpack Sports Network.

Pack Notes
- NC State opened ACC play with a 70-57 win over Wake Forest on Wednesday. The Pack held a 36-32 lead at halftime, but shut the Demon Deacon offensive attack down in the second half. Wake Forest only scored 13 points in the first 17 minutes of the second half, allowing NC State to open up a lead as large as 19 points in the final 20 minutes.
- Quadir Copeland led NC State in scoring (14), assists (8) and steals (3) in the win over Wake Forest. Over the last eight games, Copeland is averaging 16.3 points, 7.0 assists, and 1.8 steals per game while shooting 58.2 percent (46-of-79) from the field. The Philadelphia, Pa., has led the Pack in scoring in four of the last eight games, in assists in seven of the last eight games and in steals in four of the last eight games.
- Ven-Allen Lubin posted a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds in the win over Wake Forest. Lubin shot 6-of-10 from the field and has now scored in double figures in 10 of the last 11 games. Lubin has shot over 50 percent from the field in every game this season. For the season, Lubin leads the ACC and ranks fifth in the NCAA in field goal percentage at 68.2 percent.
- Paul McNeil, Jr., was named ACC Player of the Week and one of five Oscar Robertson Trophy National Players of the Week after his performances against Texas Southern and Ole Miss from Dec. 15-21. He scored a career-high 47 points, making a school-record and ACC-tying record of 11 three-pointers in the win. McNeil, Jr.'s final stat line was 12-of-18 shooting, 11-of-17 from three and 12-of-12 from the foul line. He also added a career-high 10 rebounds as he posted his first career double-double. McNeil, Jr.'s 47 points are tied with Sammy Ranzino (Jan. 23, 1951 vs. Virginia Tech) for the fifth-most points in a single game in program history and are the most by an ACC player since Rodney Monroe – NC State's all-time leading scorer – had 48 against Georgia Tech on Jan. 13, 1991.
- For the week, McNeil Jr., averaged 33 points per game and made 17 three-pointers, shooting 58.6 percent (17-of-29) from three-point range.
- NC State ranks near the top in the ACC in scoring (4th - 87.0 ppg), field goal percentage (4th - 48.7%), 3-point percentage (1st - 38.5%) and free throw percentage (4th - 76.3%).

Saturday Storylines
- A win on Saturday would give the Pack a 2-0 start in conference play for the second time in the last three seasons.
- The Pack's last home win over a ranked opponent was Jan. 14, 2023 when NC State beat 16th-ranked Miami, 83-81, in overtime. NC State has five wins over ranked opponents since that win over the Hurricanes, but all of those games were away from Raleigh.
- Ven-Allen Lubin enters Saturday's game with 999 career points in 105 career games. Lubin is averaging 13.1 points per game this season which is the top scoring average of his four year collegiate career.
- Pack's defense stepping up: After NC State's 83-73 loss to Auburn on Wednesday, Dec. 3, the Pack's defense was surrendering an average of 77.4 points per game while its opponents shot 44.3 percent from the field. In the six games since the game against the Tigers, NC State is limiting opponents to a combined 38.4 percent shooting (28.7 percent from three-point range) while giving up just 62.7 points per game.
- Saturday is a match-up of two of the top three-point shooting teams in the ACC. The Pack leads the conference with a 38.5 percent three-point shooting percentage while UVA ranks third at 37.5 percent. The Pack is third in the ACC, making an average of 10.8 three-pointers per game while the Cavaliers are one spot behind NC State in fourth with an average of 10.5 three-pointers per game.
- Win the Boards, win the game? The Pack is 9-0 when it outrebounds its opponent and 1-4 when it is outrebounded this season. Virginia will offer the Pack's toughest rebounding test of the season on Saturday. The Cavaliers have a +8.5 rebounding margin this season which ranks 34th in the NCAA. UVA leads the ACC and rank seventh in the NCAA in offensive rebounding at 14.8 per game.
- NC State ranks 32nd in the most recent NET rankings through games of Dec 31. NC State's average opponent NET rank through 14 games is 136 which ranks as the toughest of any ACC team. Seven of the Pack's 13 non-conference games this season are currently Q1 or Q2 games. The seven Q1/Q2 games are the most of any ACC team and the Pack's four Q1 games are second only to Duke for the most of any ACC team. The ACC has positioned itself well in non-conference play this season. As of the current NET rankings, NC State will have nine Q1 and three Q2 opportunities in conference action.
- Pick Your Poison: NC State has had five different players score 20-plus points in a game this season, tied for the most in the ACC. Four Wolfpack players (Quadir Copeland, Ven-Allen Lubin, Paul McNeil, Jr., and Darrion Williams) have reached the 20-point mark in multiple games—tied with Cal for the most of any team in the ACC. NC State is the only school in the ACC that has had two different players score over 30 points in a game this season (Darrion Williams and Paul McNeil, Jr.)
- Ven has been unstoppable in second half of games this season: A missed shot midway through the second half against Liberty on Dec. 10 snapped a streak of 24 consecutive made second half field goals for Ven-Allen Lubin. His streak started with two makes against Boise State in the second half on Nov. 25, the next day he was 6-6 against Texas in the second half, he then went 3-3 at Auburn, 9-9 against UNC Asheville and made his first four second half field goal attempts against Liberty before finally missing a second half shot. In 14 games this season, Lubin is shooting 78 percent (46-of-59) from the field in the second half. He's also made 14-of-his-16 free throw attempts in the final 20 minutes of games this season which means his second half shooting splits are 78/50/87.5.
- Second Half Pack: NC State is averaging 46.1 points and shooting 52.5 percent from the field in the second half of its 14 games this season. In addition to Lubin's second half efforts mentioned above, Quadir Copeland has also been fantastic in the second half as he's shot 62.3 percent (33-of-53) in the second half of games this season.

NC State series with Virginia
- Saturday will be the 159th all-time meeting between NC State and Virginia. NC State leads the all-time series, 87-71.
- NC State is 9-9 against the Cavaliers inside the Lenovo Center and has won the last two meetings against UVA in Raleigh.
- Last Meeting (December 31, 2024): NC State held a 39-29 lead at halftime and scored the first two baskets of the second half to extend its advantage to 14, but Virginia went on a 30-8 run to take the lead. UVA's lead eventually reached 12 points, 67-55, with 5:02 to play when the Pack went on a 12-3 run to get within 70-67 with 10 seconds to play. The Cavaliers missed the front end of a 1-and-1 free throw attempt, but the Pack's tying three-point shot was off the mark and UVA held on for a 70-67 win.