Nine Threes, No Answers: Kansas Guard Burns NC State

RALEIGH — Throughout NC State's difficult two-week stretch in which it suffered three losses, the 3-point defense was called into question, along with other aspects of the defensive scheme. A monster win over Liberty, one of the nation's best 3-point shooting teams, seemed to quiet some of the noise about the perimeter protection.

However, the Wolfpack's strategy of leaving the cold hand open and prioritizing different offensive players proved to be disastrous in Saturday's loss to No. 19 Kansas. Jayhawk guard Melvin Council Jr. entered the game shooting 18% from beyond the arc. He erupted against the Pack, making nine shots from downtown and scoring 36 points in his team's overtime victory.

What was the scouting report?

Will Wade and NC Stat — Dec 6, 2025; Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; NC State Wolfpack huddle with head coach Will Wade during the second half of the game against UNC Asheville Bulldogs at Lenovo Center. Mandatory Credit: Jaylynn Nash-Imagn Images | Jaylynn Nash-Imagn Images

In three of NC State's four losses, a member of the opposing team hit four or more shots from 3-point range, with Council becoming the fourth. NC State defends based on data at times, something NC State head coach Will Wade defended after the team survived a scare from VCU. As for Council, there was no reason to think he would shoot the way he did Saturday night based on what he did the rest of the season.

"The scouting report on him was just to sag off him a little bit," Wolfpack forward Ven-Allen Lubin said. "The coaches saw he wasn't a really good 3-point shooter, so we wanted to dare him to take those shots we'd think it would be good for us."

Mel from behind the arc to get us started 💯 pic.twitter.com/kveRlj2lEr
— Kansas Men’s Basketball (@KUHoops) December 13, 2025

Lubin said that after the first three makes from Council, the team started to make adjustments. He missed a few in the first half, but it was fairly obvious this was a different version of the Jayhawk guard than the one NC State saw during its film sessions. He shot his way into a state of unconsciousness, a place players dream of going. It turns out, he was getting advice from a legend of the Kansas program.

"I talked to Mario Chalmers a couple of weeks ago and he was telling me just be aggressive and shoot the ball," Council said after the win. "That's what I was trying to do today."

Dec 6, 2025; Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; NC State Wolfpack head coach Will Wade looks on before the first half of the game against UNC Asheville Bulldogs at Lenovo Center. Mandatory Credit: Jaylynn Nash-Imagn Images | Jaylynn Nash-Imagn Images

Armed with the advice and confidence from Chalmers, his coaching staff and his teammates, Council took what the defense gave him. Once Kansas head coach Bill Self knew what NC State was doing, he ordered the guard to attack relentlessly. He did, especially after star freshman Darryn Peterson exited with hamstring soreness. Council scored the last 13 points of regulation for the Jayhawks.

"Incredible performance by Council," Wade said. "Probably will be telling his grandkids about that one... He had five threes on the year coming in. He hit nine tonight. We adjusted and kind of moved back up. We were guarding him in the paint to start the game. We adjusted after he hit his third three. That was kind of our line of demarcation."

Dec 7, 2025; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Kansas Jayhawks guard Melvin Council Jr. (14) drives against Missouri Tigers guard Jacob Crews (35) during the first half at T-Mobile Center. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images | Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

Council's shot-making clearly caught the coaching staff off guard and Wade and his group made standard adjustments as the game went on. He inserted veteran guard Alyn Breed into the game for longer spurts, with Breed face-guarding Council and trying to run him off the 3-point line more and more in the second half. It didn't prove to be a very successful strategy, as he dominated the Pack in the clutch.

Wade added that the Wolfpack opted to go under ball screens rather than entirely sag off Council. With room to maneuver and solid ball-handling ability, Council easily navigated into situations where he could hunt his shot. From there, it was an avalanche. However, NC State's perimeter defense held the rest of the Jayhawks in check.

Dec 2, 2025; Lawrence, Kansas, USA; Kansas Jayhawks head coach Bill Self reacts to play against the UConn Huskies during the second half of the game at Allen Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images | Denny Medley-Imagn Images

"Their switches really bothered us and we didn't have quality body movement the whole night," Self said. "... We had one guy that was probably the best performer that I think I've had on the road in 23 years with Kansas. He was unbelievable and he made hard shots... When he made a couple, he started looking at a big basket."

Self added that while he didn't anticipate NC State to give Council the room it did, he felt that it was a sound strategy based on his numbers coming into the game.

"You look at everything when somebody scores 36 on you," Wade said. "I do think their offense was not as fluid with kind of how he was playing."

While NC State is unlikely to completely change its defensive tendencies at this point in the season, it's easy to see some changes to how it handles players on the scouting report moving forward to avoid performances like Council's becoming a trend rather than a one-off.

Want more NC State basketball content throughout the year? Follow @WolfpackOnSI and @SennettTucker on X (Twitter) and never miss another breaking news story again.

Please let us know your thoughts when you like our Facebook page WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE.