NC State Survives Second Round Clash With Pittsburgh
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CHARLOTTE — In dire need of a win, NC State dug deep and found a way to outlast Pittsburgh in the second round of the ACC Tournament. The Wolfpack blitzed the Panthers early in the second half, building a strong advantage that it rode to a 98-88 win, the Pack's 20th of the 2025-26 season.
It wasn't easy, in typical NC State fashion, but the Wolfpack managed the game just well enough to outlast Pitt, a desperate team in its own right.
Feeling out the game
Even in the ACC Tournament, NC State’s defense had issues defending the perimeter. The Wolfpack started in a zone, but the Panthers took advantage right away, having shot on the Spectrum Center rims on Tuesday. Pitt began the game making 6-of-10 shots from 3-point range and 9-of-15 field goals. NC State eventually switched back into a man defense.
Pitt guard Nojus Indrusaitis caused particular problems in the first half, burying his first three shots from beyond the arc. The Wolfpack failed to get consecutive stops for nearly the entire first half. After 13 minutes, the Panther offense started to slow down, while the Wolfpack stormed ahead with a 10-0 run, capped off by a wing 3-pointer from freshman guard Matt Able
That's OUR rookie!
— NC State Men's Basketball (@PackMensBball) March 11, 2026
Able drains the three to give us the lead. pic.twitter.com/yzPmTf4OF3
The Wolfpack managed to walk out of the first half with a one-point advantage, holding a bit of momentum over the Panthers after 20 minutes. So long as NC State figured things out on the defensive end and woke up, things would loosen up against the Panthers.
Hunting matchups
All Q in the second. pic.twitter.com/yE7i59Wmxu
— NC State Men's Basketball (@PackMensBball) March 11, 2026
Throughout the season, the Wolfpack’s offense was predicated on shot-making and hunting mismatches. Both of those things started to happen later in the first half and the momentum carried over into the second. A parade to the free-throw line in the opening 20 minutes helped the Pack keep close to the red-hot Panthers, as it shot 20 free throws.
Senior guard Quadir Copeland conducted things well on the offensive end, getting his shooters and Ven-Allen Lubin involved as much as possible. Once he identified that the Panthers couldn’t defend without fouling, he attacked at will. His aggressiveness helped the Pack take a 10-point lead in the first three minutes of the second half. Copeland finished the game with 24 points, eight assists and four rebounds.
The confident shooting from the first half led to a second-half blitz that saw NC State knock down eight of its first 10 shots out of halftime. The Wolfpack also appeared to identify a key part of Pitt’s offensive strategy near the end of the opening 20 minutes and started to string together stops and get out in transition. The Pack forced 11 turnovers in all.
The foul pendulum started swinging back toward Pitt in the second half, visibly frustrating Wade at different points. Still, NC State persisted in attacking weak defenders individually with Copeland, maintaining the healthy lead for as long as it could.
Finishing the fight
NC State’s tournament life hinged on the final eight minutes of Wednesday’s game. A loss would have the Wolfpack more than likely on the outside looking in for the NCAA Tournament, being eliminated in just one day in Charlotte. Pitt was battling for its head coach, Jeff Capel, who continued to appear on hot-seat rumors even after his team’s win over Stanford.
The Panthers cut the lead down to six points around the 10-minute mark of the second half. All season long, NC State struggled to put teams like the Panthers away. Pitt began to switch up its defenses, frustrating the Wolfpack players while Wade could only watch from the sideline, trying to diagnose the changes just like the ones Notre Dame made in the loss to the Fighting Irish.
This time, the shots went in the basket as Pitt dropped into different zone looks and tried to double NC State players on the perimeter as much as possible. The free-throw line kept Pitt alive, as the Pack committed nine fouls in the first 13 minutes of the second half. The Wolfpack needed to settle things down offensively and just take what Pitt gave it. With just under four minutes on the clock, NC State led by seven, wading into dangerous waters it was all too familiar with.
Final word
Six different players finished the game in double-figures scoring the ball for the Wolfpack, with Lubin following Copeland with 18 points of his own. It was one of the stronger offensive performances of the season for NC State, particularly in the second half.
Now, the Wolfpack must find a way to exorcise its Virginia demons in the ACC Tournament quarterfinal, taking on the Cavaliers at 2:30 P.M. on Thursday.
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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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