Breaking Down NC State's 82-73 Win Over Virginia Tech
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Another day, another NC State men's basketball victory. The Wolfpack outclassed Virginia Tech just enough over the 40 minutes of the game on Saturday to walk away with an 82-73 win back home in the friendly confines of the Lenovo Center for the first time in over a week.
The Wolfpack went into the locker room at halftime leading by 12 and had tremendous confidence. However, the Hokies pushed back into the fight in the second half, cutting the lead to as few as three points, but NC State answered back every time it needed to.
Quadir Copeland with another big time game for @PackMensBball 💪
— The Field of 68 (@TheFieldOf68) February 7, 2026
Over his last 5 games:⁰15.0 PTS | 10.8 AST | 2.6 STL 🔥 pic.twitter.com/ojlO5pwnan
Senior point guard Quadir Copeland posted his second-straight double-double for the Pack, this time doing it with points and assists rather than rebounds and assists. The savvy veteran also added five steals in the win. He received some help from Paul McNeil, who chipped in 21 points of his own, with the duo combining for 42 in the game.
On this episode of the NC State Insider Podcast, host and lead beat writer Tucker Sennett provides a detailed breakdown of the Wolfpack's latest win and how it overcame one of the strongest and most physical teams in the ACC.
Watch the new episode here
What Will Wade thought of the Wolfpack's performance
The Wolfpack shot a torrid rate of 41.6% from beyond the 3-point line in the first 10 games of conference play. Virginia Tech boasted one of the league's best 3-point defenses, holding opponents under 30%. Head coach Will Wade's team still found ways to get open looks for some of its most important players, particularly Paul McNeil and Tre Holloman. The Pack shot 9-for-21 from deep.
"They limited our attempts. We usually attempt 30, 35. We attempted a little over 20 today," Wade said. "Our best 3-point offense was in transition, getting guys going in transition... Paul is a weapon and Paul can really get going. He missed that first one, then he hit his next four... He got relatively quality looks for how they were playing it."
Virginia Tech was able to battle back in the second half, even cutting the Wolfpack's lead to just three points in the middle part of the period. Hokie head coach Mike Young knew his team needed a win for its NCAA Tournament resumé and refused to go away, but Virginia Tech didn't end up having the firepower it needed.
"I think (Young) did a great job of using his timeouts. He did that in the first and the second half," Wade said. "We just could never get a critical stop when we needed to. When it got down to three, we got the barrage of stops there and we hit the three and we got going... This was a big game for them, it was a big game for us... Our guys answered those runs and answered those changes in momentum very well."
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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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