Reacting to NC State's Ugly Loss to Virginia
In this story:
While NC State split its opening week of ACC play, Saturday's 76-61 loss to No. 21 Virginia stung more than a normal loss for several reasons. Will Wade's Wolfpack still can't get over the hump against top-level competition, falling to yet another ranked opponent.
The Pack never looked comfortable against Ryan Odom's Cavaliers, with Virginia giving NC State a taste of its own full-court pressure for major parts of the game. On this episode of the NC State Insider Podcast, host and lead beat writer Tucker Sennett breaks things down after watching the Pack fall in the Lenovo Center on Saturday.
Check out the new episode here
Wolfpack reactions after the loss
After his passionate, viral postgame press conference following the win over Wake Forest, a dejected, disappointed Wade tried to make sense of the loss to the Cavaliers. The path forward is filled with obstacles and NC State can't afford to drop key games like Saturday's matchup. Unfortunately, Wade's team can't seem to overcome the adversity of facing top-tier teams.
"We demand consistency daily... For whatever reason, we haven't been able to put it together in our high-level games," Wade said. "At the end of the day, we're judged on our high-level games and we haven't done that like we need to."
Final. pic.twitter.com/J6fmB8BbO7
— NC State Men's Basketball (@PackMensBball) January 3, 2026
A slow start doomed NC State, while Virginia fired away from 3-point range. The team knew it couldn't afford to fall too far behind the Cavaliers, especially given the stakes for them, too, after falling to Virginia Tech on the road. The Hoos frustrated NC State with their size, while the Wolfpack defense couldn't string together stops with consistency.
“Teams like that, you’ve got to hop on them first. You’ve got to punch first,” NC State guard Alyn Breed said. “You can’t let them get up early and see the rim get bigger early like that. We were definitely supposed to punch first against them.”
Hoos roll on the road 😮💨
— ACC Men's Basketball (@accmbb) January 3, 2026
📺 ESPN2 x @UVAMensHoops
pic.twitter.com/0sPJ9oBFcG
Odom knew he didn't see the best of the Wolfpack and his team will host NC State later in the season for a rematch in Charlottesville. Still, the Cavaliers showed tremendous discipline, something Odom preached to his team before and during the game, and dispatched of the Pack easily by doing so.
"The theme of this game for us was just being disciplined... And I thought our guys did a nice job of forcing some misses and being disciplined early in the game to block out and come up with rebounds so that we didn't have to face their stout press the entire first half," Odom said. "I think that was certainly helpful for us getting off to a good start, and the confidence just kind of kept brewing from there."
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
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.
Follow SennettTucker