How NC State Picked Apart Wake Forest's Defense

RALEIGH — After an up-and-down start to the season in non-conference play, NC State wanted to set a new tone in ACC play. After shooting the basketball very well, the Wolfpack faced a challenge in the unique perimeter defense of Wake Forest in the conference opener, but it proved it could find ways to win, taking down the Demon Deacons 70-57.

The New Year's Eve victory for the Pack was a grind-it-out kind of game for Will Wade's squad. With star forward Darrion Williams still struggling to shoot the ball and the 3-point attempts not falling for the group, the Pack made key adjustments early in the game that helped NC State cruise to the comfortable win.

Attacking the paint

Ven-Allen Lubin ROCKS the rim 🔥🔨pic.twitter.com/63ZhPRN4h1
— The Field of 68 (@TheFieldOf68) December 31, 2025

Wake Forest came into the matchup forcing 15.7 turnovers per game during the non-conference campaign. The Demon Deacons lived up to that reputation and statistic, forcing 11 turnovers in the first half alone, although they coughed it up 11 times too. The length and athleticism made it difficult for the Wolfpack to get clean looks.

"Wake is aggressive defensively. They really rotate through. They leave the backside guy open. They do a great job defensively," Wade said after the win. "Part of it was adjusting."

Quadir Copeland's tendency to drive downhill relentlessly hurt the offense at first, as his passing wasn't on point the way it was against Ole Miss. However, the oversized point guard adjusted, as Wade said.

WHAT A FINISH BY COPELAND!

He enters double-digit scoring for @PackMensBball 🐺

📺 ESPN2 pic.twitter.com/wVdY9RSdmF
— ACC Men's Basketball (@accmbb) December 31, 2025

"We threw a bunch of hook passes and hand-level passes," Wade added. "You do that against their length and their athleticism makes it really tough."

Instead of spraying passes out to shooters and trying to whip passes around the arms of Wake Forest defenders after driving, Copeland and the other distributors, including Williams, settled into the offense and looked to get paint touches for Ven-Allen Lubin and freshman big man Musa Sagnia. That duo helped the Wolfpack rack up 38 points in the paint, with Lubin recording another double-double.

The D Will to Musa connection is art. pic.twitter.com/sfErh0dWNd
— NC State Men's Basketball (@PackMensBball) December 31, 2025

In the second game of the season against Alabama-Birmingham, NC State showed that it could overcome difficult shooting performances from beyond the arc. Williams and sharpshooter Paul McNeil combined to make four of the Wolfpack's six 3-pointers. Instead, NC State shot 11-for-19 on layups and made all five of its dunks in the game.

"We know we had a slow start; we're just knocking the rust off ourselves," Lubin said. "Just knowing that Wake Forest is gonna come out with fire, and they did, and they had to jump on us, and so we just came back in the locker room ahead of time, just knowing that we've got to pick it up."

Dec 6, 2025; Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; NC State Wolfpack forward Ven-Allen Lubin (22) holds the ball guarded by Liberty Flames guard JJ Harper (9) during the first half of the game at Lenovo Center. Mandatory Credit: Jaylynn Nash-Imagn Images | Jaylynn Nash-Imagn Images

Because of Wake Forest's own turnover woes, the Wolfpack beat the defense down the floor frequently and took advantage of chaotic post-turnover situations. NC State scored 19 points off Wake Forest's 16 giveaways and added nine points in fastbreak opportunities. Despite forcing 15 Wolfpack turnovers, the Demon Deacons scored just 10 points off those giveaways.

The different type of offense NC State showed in the win over Wake Forest bodes well in the long term for the program.

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