How NC State Overcame Major Rebounding Issues Against Pitt
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PITTSBURGH — Will Wade has been more honest than anyone about his NC State team's issues rebounding the ball. The Wolfpack lacks significant size in the front court and that showed in Saturday's 81-72 win over Pitt, in which the Panthers outrebounded the Pack 52 to 31.
To use a word Wade used after State's win over Clemson earlier in the week, it was a bludgeoning. Yet, the Wolfpack persisted. It came up with timely rebounds and stops, while the Panther offense lacked any consistency and cohesion when it mattered most. NC State found a way to overcome the rebounding woes and continued to be perfect away from the Lenovo Center since the ACC schedule began.
Not getting punished by the Panthers
It was evident early in Saturday's game that rebounding could be a problem for the Wolfpack. The Panthers racked up 10 offensive rebounds in the first 10 minutes of the game, flying around weak box-outs by the Wolfpack. Wade laid into his team at the first media timeout about the start to the game, but things didn't improve much.
"It started from the beginning of the game. We didn't set the tone very well... and we just did a poor job," Wade said. "They got us on some cross-matches and we didn't rebound down. Our guards were supposed to rebound down. Our guards didn't rebound down. We didn't have nearly enough guard defensive rebounds."
Wade admitted that the guards improved the rebounding effort in the second half, but it was far from the one NC State needed to stand a chance on the glass. The Wolfpack guards finished with 10 of the 23 defensive rebounds in the victory. That group hauled in 11 defensive boards against Clemson earlier in the week, but there were fewer opportunities to get them as the Tigers took over 10 fewer shots than Pitt did on Saturday.
A major problem for NC State in the win over the Panthers was one individual performance from a freshman. Roman Siulepa, a native of Australia, absolutely dominated the glass in his team's loss, racking up13 rebounds, eight of which came on the offensive end. Without the efforts from Siulepa, it's hard to see a world where Pitt could've stayed in the game, as he also scored 15 points.
"13 killed us. He's a freshman," Wade said of Siulepa's performance. "He absolutely killed us. (Cameron) Corhen did a great job. Those guys just annihilated us."
The onslaught of offensive rebounds for the Panthers meant NC State needed to find other ways to make up ground. The Wolfpack has been the best team in the ACC when it comes to turnover margin and continued to fall into that trend against the Panthers. The Pack gave the ball away just eight times, while Pitt racked up 14 turnovers, nine of them coming in the second half.
"It was huge only to turn it over eight times," Wade said. "You can't turn it over when you give up 26 offensive rebounds... You give up that amount of offensive rebounds, you better not turn that thing over. We were fortunate in that regard and we made some timely shots."
NC State was able to counter Pitt's 26 second-chance points with 22 points off turnovers, a statistic that the Wolfpack typically owns, no matter the competition. Turning mistakes into offense allowed the Pack to stay in the game, as the Panthers never strung together runs with consistency and threatened to pull away far enough that NC State could land in the danger zone.
There was also the issue of Pitt's finishing ability. The Panthers made just eight of their 20 layups, with Corhen shooting just 4-of-12 in the game as the primary paint scorer. Pitt got to the line consistently, but that was almost worse than the layups for the Panthers. They shot just 11-of-25 from the charity stripe, good for a dismal 44%. NC State capitalized on those issues, making 22 of its 27 free throws.
Light work for 11 👌 pic.twitter.com/x6dlCkEtXF
— NC State Men's Basketball (@PackMensBball) January 24, 2026
While the start was disappointing and nearly created some danger for NC State, the overall team effort impressed Wade. Just a week after a slow start doomed the Wolfpack against Georgia Tech, the same team dug deep on the road and found a way to overcome a major statistical issue.
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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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