Reacting to NC State's Opening Round Loss in Maui

Just hours after rising to No. 23 in the latest edition of the AP Top 25, NC State fell to Seton Hall in the opening round of the Southwest Maui Invitational, sending it to the opposite side of the bracket from where head coach Will Wade wanted to be.

The Wolfpack struggled across the board in its first trip away from the Lenovo Center. The group gave up 85 points to a Pirates team not known for stellar offense and failed to get any offense against the Hall's stiff defensive pressure.

On this episode of the NC State Insider Podcast, get host and lead beat writer Tucker Sennett's take on the game and what it means for the Wolfpack moving forward.

Watch the Episode

Wade spoke to members of the media in Maui, expressing his disappointment in the performance of his team, especially on the defensive side of the court. Find out what he had to say below:

Will Wade is (rightfully) not happy.

“I appreciate all these questions on our offense, but we gave up 85 points. I mean, they drove at will against us.” pic.twitter.com/957G359LB3
— Pack Racket (@PackRacket) November 24, 2025

On his concerns with the Wolfpack's defenseEmpty heading

"I appreciate all these questions on our offense. We gave up 85 points. They drove at will against us. They hit three threes in the last 35 minutes of the game and just went straight to the front of the rim, which has been a massive problem for us."

"We gave up 20 points at the free-throw line. We can sit here and talk about our offense all we want. You score 74 points, you should be able to win. We gave up 85 points, 50 in the second half. They shot over 50% for the game, I believe 52% for the game. We're just letting people get in the paint at will. That's a much, much larger problem than our offense."

Oct 8, 2025; Charlotte, NC, USA; NC State head coach Will Wade answers questions from the media at The Hilton Charlotte Uptown. Mandatory Credit: William Howard-Imagn Images | William Howard-Imagn Images

On the team's performance in the game

"We didn't play very well. Give Seton Hall a lot of credit. They were more aggressive than we were. They were tougher than we were. We just didn't do a good job. They killed us in the paint by 14. Out-rebounded us. (They) were just scrappier than we were."

"Very disappointing, especially to have all the fans out here and everybody out here. We just didn't play our best today, but we've got to turn the page quick and have a next-play mentality and move on because we're going to play another really, really good team tomorrow. "Today we were just disjointed and didn't play to our standards. Disappointing result, but we need to turn the page and be ready to roll moving forward."

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