Narrow Losses Defined the Late-Season Issues For NC State
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RALEIGH — NC State entered a critical seven-game stretch at the end of the regular season with high hopes. The Wolfpack won six-straight games, most of which came against lower-tier competition in the ACC, but the team played itself into the mix for a top-four finish in the league standings, something Will Wade hoped to achieve when he was hired in March of 2025.
The collapse that followed that stretch came as a shock to every part of the team, especially Wade. NC State lost six of the following seven games, including four in a row to wrap up the regular season with a 10-8 record in ACC play. While top-tier conference foes like Duke and Virginia blew the Wolfpack out, it suffered three heartbreaking losses that completely flipped the script on a promising year.
The blowouts
Not every loss was created equally for NC State down the stretch. The Wolfpack dropped three games to ranked opponents, losing to Louisville by 41 points, Virginia by 29 and Duke by 29. While those losses marked the line between the Pack and the top level of the league, they didn't hurt the resumé of the team long-term, acting more as a blow to the team's pride.
"We're not ready to compete with the top of the league right now, that's just a fact," Wade said after the loss to Virginia on Feb. 24. "We get our doors blown off twice by Virginia. Virginia is a great team; give them credit. They're just better than us. They're better than us at every spot."
Late-game collapses
As he sat in the media room of the Lenovo Center following Saturday's 85-84 loss to Stanford, Wade couldn't help but think about the opportunities his team left on the table. The most recent defeat marked the third loss over the final month that held that level of frustration, as the Wolfpack had more than its fair share of opportunities.
"We've lost three like, with Notre Dame, this one and Miami," Wade said. "When you lose close games, it's on coaching. We haven't made the plays that we needed to. ... We've just had some lapses that really hurt us and we've lost quite a few. This is like the fourth game like this that we've lost. ... We haven't been able to close these out and at the end of the day, it stops with me."
Opponent | Situation | Final Score |
|---|---|---|
Miami (Fla.) | 7-point lead with 1:07 left in the second half. | Miami 77 - 76 NC State |
At Notre Dame | 7-point lead with 3:23 left in the second half. Fighting Irish outscored NC State 15-9 in overtime. | Notre Dame 96 - 90 NC State |
Stanford | Trailed by two with under a minute to play, but held possession with a chance to tie or win | Stanford 85 - 84 NC State |
Throughout the season, Wade preached the importance of the six-minute game, essentially breaking down games into the most important segments, which, in his opinion, are the final six minutes of each half. Winning those stretches often makes the difference in a basketball game. For the Wolfpack coach, his team's shortcomings in those moments make this season even more frustrating.
The frustration didn't stop with Wade. Senior forward Ven-Allen Lubin played some of his best basketball down the stretch, but it all came during a time when his team crumbled around him. Against Stanford, Lubin recorded his seventh double-double of the season, adding to the disappointment.
"It's extremely frustrating," Lubin said. "We wanted to close out the second half of the season really strong, come out with wins and show the amount of work that we put in day in and day out. ... Today, we felt like we let out fans down, the people who came out to support us down ... I just think that we let one or two possessions slip away."
There's an element of luck to most sports, with basketball being no exception to that policy. The Wolfpack benefited from some tightrope-style victories. NC State narrowly escaped defeat in Dallas against SMU and on the road against a ranked Clemson team that finished fifth in the ACC. The ball bounced right in those games. Everything changed down the stretch.
"We've had some tough things happen to us this season," Wade said. "You make your own look, so I won't say we've had bad luck. ... We've just had some fluky happen throughout the course of games and we haven't been able to make the plays. ... We just haven't been tough enough to make those plays, to deserve the opportunity to win. ... We should be three or four games better than we are, but we're not."
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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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