Pack Heads to Wake Forest for Saturday Noon Tip

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NC State Game Notes | Wake Forest Game Notes

RALEIGH, N.C. – The NC State men's basketball team (15-6, 6-2 ACC) looks for a season sweep of Wake Forest (11-10, 2-6 ACC) when it travels to Winston-Salem to play the Demon Deacons.

Tipoff at Wake Forest has been moved up to noon because of anticipated inclement weather in the state of North Carolina on Saturday. The game will no longer be televised on The CW and can only be watched by streaming on ACC Network Extra.

Pack Notes
- NC State led wire-to-wire in an 88-68 win over Syracuse on Tuesday. While the Pack never trailed in the game, it didn't take a double-digit lead until midway through the second half as NC State steadily pulled away from the Orange in the final 10 minute of the game.
- The win pushed the Pack's ACC record to 6-2 on the season. It's the best ACC record for NC State through eight games since the 2005-06 season. NC State has won its first four ACC road games this season. It's the first time the Pack started its ACC schedule by winning its first four ACC road games since the 1973–74 season, when NC State went 12–0 in conference play and went on to capture the National Championship with a 30–1 overall record.
- Darrion Williams led NC State with 23 points on 9-of-16 shooting, including 5-of-9 from three-point range, while also grabbing six rebounds and passing out five assists. An aggressive Williams is what the Pack wants to see, NC State is 8-1 this season when he takes 12 or more shots in a game and 9-3 this season when he makes multiple three pointers in a game. For the season, Williams leads the team in scoring at 14.4 points per game and is second on the team in rebounding (5.5 per game) and assists (3.4).
- Quadir Copeland continued to stuff the stat sheet this season in his performance against Syracuse as he scored 19 points, passed out nine assists and had four steals. Over the last 15 games, Copeland is averaging 15.6 points, 7.1 assists, and 2.1 steals per game while shooting 53.0 percent (79-of-149) from the field. The senior has led the Pack in scoring in seven of the last 15 games, in assists in 14 of the last 15 games (including 13 consecutive games) and in steals in eight of the last 15 games.
- Ven-Allen Lubin added 18 points and nine rebounds in the win as he was a perfect 8-for-8 from the field. Lubin has now shot over 50 percent in every game except for one this season. The Orlando, Fla., native leads the ACC and ranks fourth in the NCAA in field goal percentage at 68.5 percent. In his fourth season of college basketball, Lubin is averaging a career-best 13.6 points per game and his rebounding average of 7.0 per game is also the best of his career. Over the last five games, Lubin is averaging 18.8 points and 7.8 rebounds per game while shooting 75 percent (33-of-44) from the field and 78.6 percent (22-of-28) from the foul line.

Saturday storylines
- The Pack's offense has traveled well this season, as NC State has actually shot better away from Raleigh than at home. In nine road or neutral-site games, the Pack is shooting 48.1 percent, including 42.5 percent from three-point range, and averaging 83.8 points per game. Ven-Allen Lubin leads NC State in scoring in those contests, averaging 15.8 points while shooting 69.2 percent from the field (54-of-78) away from Raleigh. Quadir Copeland is close behind, averaging 14.9 points per game and shooting 58.4 percent (45-of-77) on the road.
- NC State had single digit turnovers in five of the last six games. NC State leads the ACC in turnovers (and ranks 23rd in the NCAA), averaging just 9.8 per game. NC State only has 48 turnovers (8.0 per game) in the Pack's last six outings. In the first meeting between the two teams, NC State turned it over 15 times against Wake Forest. The 15 turnovers are the most in ACC game this season for the Pack and the third-most in a single game this season.
- The Pack was outscored 13-10 in points off turnovers in Tuesday's win at Syracuse. It marked the first time in ACC play that NC State has been outscored in points off turnovers. In eight ACC games this season, the Pack has outscored its opponents by 87 points in points off turnovers. NC State has now had more points off turnovers than its opponents in 12 of the last 14 games. In 21 games overall this season, NC State has outscored its opponents by 168 points in points off turnovers.
- In its last six games, NC State passed out 102 assists and had just 48 turnovers (2.13 assist-to-turnover ratio). NC State is second in the ACC and ranks 18th in the NCAA with a 1.71 assist-to-turnover ratio this season.
- The Pack has a +41 turnover margin in its eight ACC games this season and leads the ACC and ranks 15th in the NCAA with a +4.6 turnover margin. The only two power conference teams in the NCAA to have a better turnover margin than the Pack are Houston (+6.5) and Iowa State (+5.6). NC State has had the same or fewer turnovers than its opponent in 19 of 21 games this season. VCU and Ole Miss are the only two opponents to have fewer turnovers than the Pack when they played.
- NC State has had double digit steals in five of its eight ACC games and has 79 overall in ACC play. The Pack leads the conference in ACC-only contests with an average of 9.9 steals per game. Quadir Copeland's 2.5 steals per game average in ACC play is the second-best average in the conference. NC State has nine players that have 13 or more steals this season. While NC State leads in ACC contests, Wake Forest leads the conference in steals in overall games. The Demon Deacons averaged 9.1 steals per game this season to lead the conference while the Pack is right behind Wake in second with a season average of 8.8 steals per game.
- Paul McNeil, Jr., had his multiple three-pointers streak in nine consecutive games snapped in Tuesday's win over Syracuse as the sophomore finished just 1-of-5 from long range. McNeil, Jr., has made 40 three-pointers in his last 10 games (4.0 per game) and is shooting 46.0% from long range in those contests. For the season, McNeil is averaging 3.1 three-pointers per game to rank second in the ACC and 38th in the NCAA while his three-point percentage of 42.0 percent is second in the ACC and ranks 37th in the NCAA.
- Win the Boards, win the game? NC State outrebounded Syracuse by 12 in Tuesday's win. NC State had five players post six or more rebounds in the game, including Tre Holloman who pulled down a career-best seven and Matt Able tied his career-high with seven rebounds. The Pack is 11-0 when it outrebounds its opponent this season, but just 4-6 when it is outrebounded.
- The win at Florida State marked the fourth time this season NC State has gone over the century mark. It's the most 100 point games in a single season for NC State since the 1995-96 team had four. For the season, NC State averages 85.4 points per game which is fourth in the ACC and 31st in the NCAA. The Pack is currently on pace to average its most points since Fire & Ice (Chris Corchiani and Rodney Monroe) led the Pack to an average of 89.3 points per game in the 1990-91 season.
- Ven-Allen Lubin has been unstoppable in the 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. In 19 games this season, Lubin is shooting 79.8 percent (71-of-89) from the field in the second half. As a team this season, NC State is shooting over 50 percent from the field in the second half. Through 21 games, the Pack is shooting 51.0 percent in the second half, including 41.9 percent from three-point range. NC State has also been excellent at the foul line in the final 20 minutes of games as the Pack is making 78.4 percent of its free throw attempts.

NC State series with Wake Forest
- Saturday will be the 264th all-time meeting between NC State and Wake Forest.
- NC State leads the all-time series, 153-110.
- Last Meeting (December 31, 2025): NC State held Wake Forest to 29 percent shooting to beat the Demon Deacons, 70-57, in both team's ACC opener earlier this season. Quadir Copeland led NC State with 14 points, eight assists and three steals. Paul McNeil, Jr., added 13 points and Ven-Allen Lubin posted a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds.

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Players Mentioned

Matt Able

Quadir Copeland

Tre Holloman

Ven-Allen Lubin

Paul McNeil, Jr.

Darrion Williams

North Carolina State University Athletics