Explosive Scoring Outings Continue to Haunt NC State

Will Wade laid it out clearly over the last few weeks. The NC State coach, on multiple occasions, joked about players of opponents looking forward to facing his team's defense after many explosive individual scoring performances throughout the 2025-26 season. Saturday's 96-90 loss to Notre Dame only added to the laundry list of high-level offensive outings against the Pack.

Fighting Irish guards Cole Certa and Jalen Haralson scored 32 and 25 points, respectively, torching the Wolfpack defense. They became the third pair of players to score 25-plus against NC State throughout the season, with all three of those games ending with losses. At times, the defense looked to be turning a corner, but now it has the Wolfpack in some danger.

What's going on?

There have been some remarkable individual performances against NC State throughout the 2025-26 season, including Cole Certa's 32-point eruption on Saturday. Out of the bunch listed below:

- six players with season highs
- five players with 30-plus
- three with 8+ triples pic.twitter.com/ErCNhWkcqa
— Tucker Sennett (@SennettTucker) February 28, 2026

While Haralson and Certa had higher scoring outputs earlier in the season, NC State allowed six other opponents to reach a season-high throughout the year. Some of the most noteworthy eruptions came courtesy of Kansas' Melvin Council, who buried nine 3-pointers, and Louisville's Mikel Brown, a freshman who poured 45 points on the Wolfpack earlier in February.

"It's just been a common theme for us this season to have these types of issues," Wade said on the radio broadcast after the Notre Dame loss. "It's just really disappointing. I didn't have us, obviously, as ready as we needed to be."

Mikel Brown Jr. vs NC State..

45 PTS (14-23 FG, 10-16 3PT, 7-7 FTs)
9 REBS
3 STLS
2 AST

OHH MYYY GOODDDNNESSS.. now this right here is what a #1 Pick looks like.. GOT DAMN… pic.twitter.com/E64mVeR6sW
— Frankie Vision (@Frankie_Vision) February 10, 2026

While some of these highlight-filled performances have come in victories for the Wolfpack, most end in disappointment for Wade's team. All he could do was watch as Notre Dame picked his group apart on Saturday. It was similar to Mikel Brown's 10-three night, harkening back to a comment the coach made after that loss.

"He hadn't seen our defense yet," Wade joked after the Louisville game, even mentioning Council's performance. "We're good medicine if you can't shoot it."

Wade's tone changed after the Notre Dame loss. The lack of attention to detail cost NC State down the stretch, as the Fighting Irish played out the game with far more desperation and rode hot hands to the win in overtime.

Feb 28, 2026; South Bend, Indiana, USA; NC State Wolfpack head coach Will Wade claps against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish during the first half at Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center. Mandatory Credit: Michael Caterina-Imagn Images | Michael Caterina-Imagn Images

"Our defense has been atrocious this week, but it's been really poor for most of the season," Wade said Saturday. "That's on me as a coach to find a scheme and find some things that do a better job of helping our guys. ... They did a better job of picking the mismatches than we did."

Turning a strength into a weakness

Quadir Copeland and Terrance Arceneaux — Feb 17, 2026; Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; NC State Wolfpack guard Quadir Copeland (11) and guard Terrance Arceneaux (21) celebrate in front of the North Carolina Tar Heels bench during the first half at Lenovo Center. Mandatory Credit: Zachary Taft-Imagn Images | Zachary Taft-Imagn Images

Following the win over North Carolina on Feb. 17, NC State guard Quadir Copeland plainly laid out what the Wolfpack wants to do each game from an offensive standpoint.

"That's usually our best game plan -- finding the mismatches and just exposing them -- because you can't keep them out there for too long," he said after scoring 20 points on the Tar Heels.

While the porch action the Wolfpack runs with Copeland and senior forward Darrion Williams can be highly effective, opponents are overpowering NC State right back on the other end of the floor. The switch-centric defensive scheme created enough chaos to beat lower-tier opponents in the non-conference slate, but there were obvious holes. Now, the wheels are off the bus.

The first signs of the issue appeared at the Maui Invitational, as Dylan Andrews of Boise State, Jordan Pope of Texas and AJ Staton-McCray of Seton Hall combined for 74 points in the three-game tournament. Then came the eruption at Auburn, as Kevin Overton and Keyshawn Hall combined for 57. The common thread was that each player stepped into shots early and created confidence immediately. From there, the Wolfpack failed to make adjustments.

The most damning defensive performance against an individual was the one against Council. The Jayhawk guard came into the game shooting a dismal 18.5% from 3-point range, placing him lower on the scouting report than a player like Darryn Peterson. However, Council stepped into two rhythm threes in the first six minutes. There was nothing even close to a contest.

Melvin Council dropped a cool 3️⃣6️⃣ in @KUHoops's nail-biting road win over NC State 🪣 pic.twitter.com/OSPxKsZNFD
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) December 14, 2025

By the time NC State started to take note of Council, he already shot himself into a more confident mindset. From that point on, there was no answer. That's the crux of the issue. It's the lack of urgency once one player starts to feel it, especially if it deviates from the scouting report. The latest shooting performance from Certa was more of an indictment of the scheme than the effort level in previous games.

Notre Dame put the smaller Tre Holloman in ball screen situations and worked switches to pull Ven-Allen Lubin out of the paint. While not a helpless on-ball defender against guards, Lubin was overmatched by the shiftiness and speed of Certa and Haralson. Rotations were slow when one would kick out to the other, especially down the stretch. And worst of all, the Wolfpack once again allowed Certa to shoot himself into a confident headspace.

With just two regular-season games left, along with at least one guaranteed game in the ACC Tournament, there's simply not enough time for any sort of defensive overhaul like Wade suggested. The Wolfpack could make a handful of tweaks in an effort to fix things before the conference tournament, but NC State is what it is on the defensive end at this point.

To put the 2025-26 season into one word from Wade's point of view, it would be educational. He has been forthcoming about his disappointment, but also taken credit for some of the issues, like the team's individual defense. Each collapse only motivates the fiery head coach to fix things, both in the present and for the future of Wolfpack basketball.

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