Breakdown and Reaction to NC State's Thrilling Win Over SMU
In this story:
On the road leading SMU by just one point, NC State needed a stop. The Mustangs already stunned a handful of teams with late-game heroics in the 2025-26 season, but senior guard Tre Holloman wouldn't let the Wolfpack be another clip in their highlight reel. Holloman stopped talented SMU guard Boopie Miller, securing the dramatic 84-83 win for the Pack.
It was a game filled with high-powered offense, as the Mustangs and Wolfpack dueled with high-level shot-making and elite perimeter play. NC State was fueled by a monumental performance from its point guard, Quadir Copeland, who racked up 16-assists, 10-rebound double-double, scoring just seven points in the win. His efforts fueled a furious second-half comeback for State.
You name it, Quadir Copeland was doing it 🔥🐺 pic.twitter.com/FNKY5ACsPo
— ACC Men's Basketball (@accmbb) February 4, 2026
It marked NC State's sixth road win since the beginning of the ACC schedule and the second against a Quadrant 1 foe. It took everything head coach Will Wade's team had in the tank to hold off Miller, Jarron Pierre and the other members of SMU's cadre of talented guards, but the Pack still found a way to walk away with the win.
On this episode of the NC State Insider Podcast, host and lead beat writer Tucker Sennett breaks down what went down in the latest Pack road victory, discussing top performers and key moments that helped Wade's group get another critical win for its tournament resumé.
Watch the episode here
More on NC State's latest road win
Improved 3-point shooting has been a major part of the latest scoring surge for Darrion Williams. He shot 6-for-12 from deep against SMU, marking the third-straight outing with five or more makes from 3-point range. Williams scored a team-high 25 points, taking advantage of several of Copeland's 16 assists. The dominant distribution from his teammate came as no surprise to Williams.
"With the style of basketball that they play, we knew it was going to be an up-and-down game," Williams said. "They were going to make some runs... We didn't want to play how they play, basically. We knew we'd come back at some point and once we started rolling... I knew we were going to win."
The win marked NC State's sixth straight win in a true road game far from the friendly confines of the Lenovo Center, with all six of the victories coming against ACC foes. With that success comes the challenge of balancing confidence and urgency. The Wolfpack did both against the Mustangs, but there are still tests to come and there were still issues in the latest victory that need correcting.
"We want to be confident. We're 6-0 on the road in the ACC... We should have confidence from that," Wade said. "But, you have to have humility as well and the humility comes from... There's a lot of stuff that we can get better at. If we don't do a better job in our ball-screen coverage than we did tonight... If we're not humble enough to understand that we have to get that fixed, then we are going to get humbled on Saturday."
Want more NC State basketball content throughout the year? Follow @WolfpackOnSI and @SennettTucker on X (Twitter) and never miss another breaking news story again.
Please let us know your thoughts when you like our Facebook page WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE
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.
Follow SennettTucker