How the Success of the ACC Benefits NC State
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After sweeping another road trip, NC State men's basketball and coach Will Wade find themselves in a solid position both in terms of conference standings and metrics. The Wolfpack finally got a Quadrant 1 victory, overcoming late offensive struggles to beat No. 18 Clemson on the road on Tuesday. However, external forces are helping the Pack as well.
Before the season began, ACC commissioner Jim Phillips discussed how the league tweaked some of the scheduling, including dropping the conference schedule to just 18 games. That plan was implemented to help return the ACC to its previous glory as a conference after a few seasons of issues putting a strong number of teams in the NCAA Tournament.
The commissioner's plan seems to be working through the first month of the conference schedule and the third month of the season as a whole. The ACC has been one of the strongest power conference leagues in the country and looks poised to send several teams, including the Wolfpack, to the NCAA Tournament should things continue to trend positively.
On this episode of the NC State Insider Podcast, host and lead beat writer Tucker Sennett breaks down how some of the numbers for the conference as a whole are helping push NC State in the right direction toward the Big Dance in March.
Watch the new episode here
How NC State finished its road sweep with a win over Pittsburgh
While the strength of the ACC is helping the Wolfpack indirectly, the success of the team is the driving force behind any hopes Wade and Co. have for the NCAA Tournament. Two road wins, including Saturday's 81-72 victory over the Pittsburgh Panthers, have the Wolfpack trending in the right direction. Things weren't easy in the Steel City, however.
"I thought we did a good job getting some better mismatches, getting the ball downhill," Wade said. "We figured out something against the way they were covering our porch action, which got Paul (McNeil) loose from the three and got (Quadir Copeland) going downhill. Then, they adjusted on that and we were able to go back to something else that worked earlier in the game."
Copeland scored a team-high 20 points, taking 11 shots. That moved NC State's record to 3-5 in games where he's taken 10 or more shots and was the second such performance in a row for the Wolfpack. After he shot the ball 17 times in the Georgia Tech loss, the veteran guard's decision-making improved during the week. As a team, the Pack consistently made the right calls in crunchtime.
"Give our guys credit. We had to do a lot of different things on the fly today and our guys were really good," Wade said. "We got off to a really slow start. You know, quite frankly, not the effort that we would like, but we're never going to apologize for winning and there's a little bit more luck involved in this than we would like... We'll take the win."
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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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