Bill Self Praises NC State and Challenge Posed by the Wolfpack
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RALEIGH — NC State couldn't find a way to take down No. 19 Kansas in Saturday's back-and-forth matchup in the Lenovo Center. The Wolfpack ultimately fell to the Jayhawks in overtime, losing 77-76 after star forward Darrion Williams came up short on a 3-point attempt with just over a second on the clock.
Kansas head coach Bill Self made two trips to the Research Triangle, losing one game to North Carolina and escaping Raleigh with a win over the Pack. He spoke at length about the challenges posed by NC State and even offered some thoughts on the future of the program under head coach Will Wade.
What were Self's thoughts on NC State?
The Jayhawks lost their two first matchups against Triangle competition, as they also fell to the Duke Blue Devils in the Champions Classic. Escaping Raleigh with a win made up for the other two losses, but Self won't be itching to come back anytime soon.
"I've seen enough of the Research Triangle... One thing that is very evident is that people love ball here," Self said. "And people should be really excited about the Wolfpack and their team because if you really look at their team, they can stretch you from four spots. They've got really good guard play and good length on the perimeter and (Ven-Allen Lubin) is having a really nice year. They're going to have a good season."
Wade and the Wolfpack gave Self a true challenge, but fell short with a handful of opportunities to close out the Jayhawks. Kansas came into the game with one of the best 3-point defenses in the country and held NC State to just 26% from beyond the arc.
"I actually thought our best chance coming in here was to not let them shoot the ball beyond the arc and switch," the KU coach said. "Now, they actually shot it well when it counted down the stretch with Darrion (Williams) making those two, but for the most part, I thought we did a decent job with that."
Self knows just how capable Williams is of torching any team on any given night. The Jayhawks were willing to let Quadir Copeland get better looks to sell out on Williams, which worked for most of the game. In Williams' sophomore season with Texas Tech, the forward didn't miss against the Jayhawks, shooting 12-of-12 from the field in a monster win back in 2024.
"Fortunately for us, Darrion missed the hardest one at the very end, but he's been a KU killer for years," Self said. "... Even though he got his 17, I'll take that and go to the house."
Self was thrilled to escape with a win, but hoped his team would stop playing such close games. NC State faltered in another major opportunity, but still got props from the KU coach, obviously, although he couldn't say exactly how the season will go moving forward.
"I'm not in practice. I don't know," Self said. "From the outside looking in, they've got good guard play. They can stretch it from four spots. They've got a guy that is a clutch player... I would think they're going to have a really nice year, but I don't know enough to have a strong opinion."
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Tucker Sennett graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in Sports Journalism from the esteemed Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University. A former basketball player, he has gained valuable experience working at Cronkite News and brings a deep passion for sports and reporting to his role as the NC State Wolfpack Beat Writer On SI.
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