How Matt Able Found Another Gear on the Road
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RALEIGH — The road offered a chance for NC State men's basketball to catch its breath and tinker with some players who hadn't played near the ceiling of their potential throughout the start of the year. Matt Able, the team's highly-touted freshman guard, started to fly higher during the wins against Boston College and Florida State.
Able averaged 13 points and 5.5 rebounds in the two-game stretch after averaging under five points over the previous five games for NC State. A more confident Able is a massive additional piece for Will Wade, who is desperate for more consistent scoring production off the bench.
How Able is finding his rhythm
While the growing pains were sometimes frustrating for Wade, Able tried to stay the course and find ways to impact games positively in his stints. His length and strength, despite being just a freshman, allowed him to defend effectively. Able averaged 1.4 steals per game over the 12-5 start for the Wolfpack and his defense only seems to be improving as he sees more looks. Wade took some of the guardrails away from Able before the road trip. It worked.
"It means a lot to me. He's letting me play through a couple mistakes. I'm not perfect, obviously, so I'm going to have a couple mistakes and some of my mistakes might be headscratchers..." Able said. "Him letting me play through it just boosts my confidence."
Can’t leave the rook open beyond the arc…
— NC State Men's Basketball (@PackMensBball) January 10, 2026
Pack +16 pic.twitter.com/faFqfvzDZJ
Able was incredibly efficient in the win over Florida State, proving his coach right for trusting him. The freshman took seven 3-point shots on Saturday, drilling five of them. He missed his four shots from inside the arc, but his ability to knock down threes makes him an invaluable member of NC State's rotation.
The next step in Able's evolution will be his development as a scorer beyond just shooting from the outside. He showed flashes of his driving ability, but he lacked consistent finishing ability and quality shot selection at times during the non-conference schedule. However, when he's knocking down 3-pointers at a 72.7% clip as he did against BC and FSU, there isn't as much of a premium on his 2-point scoring ability.
Able could be the low usage scorer Wade has been looking for, helping primary distributors Darrion Williams and Quadir Copeland increase their assist totals. The freshman guard seems to be buying into Wade's messaging about momentum. If that continues to be the case, the Wolfpack should be in good shape with the rotation.
"Starting off the (ACC) season well, getting momentum early... That momentum carries you into a lot tougher games and games that we might not be shooting as well in," Able said. "Overall, it was a great team atmosphere... If you look at the bench after every play, everyone was standing up, cheering... I think that's a really big thing that we've been focused on and the coach and the whole team have been focused on."
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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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