Steve Forbes Explains How NC State Shut Down Wake Forest
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RALEIGH — Wake Forest coach Steve Forbes and NC State coach Will Wade had very different postgame press conferences. The former was disappointed in the effort of his group as the Demon Deacons struggled in the Lenovo Center, while the latter exploded over the treatment of his star player, Darrion Williams, by the fan base and some members of the media.
Before the postgame fireworks, Forbes and Wade faced off on the basketball court, with Wade's side playing one of its best defensive games of the 2025-26 season. For Wake Forest, it was another disappointing result against top-tier competition, leading to more frustration for Forbes. The veteran coach tried to break down what went wrong for his group, while also praising NC State.
What did Forbes say?
Conference dubs hit different. pic.twitter.com/64BAAmazFX
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Turnovers defined the game early, as Wake Forest continued its trend of forcing them in bunches. However, the Demon Deacons also committed many of their own turnovers, which allowed the Wolfpack to survive a very sloppy start and make key adjustments on both ends, while Forbes and his group struggled to fix things.
"Our ball screen defense was pretty good, we contested, we guarded the personnel," he started. "But we just couldn't get anything going offensively, especially turnovers... They probably scored 11 points on the timing-bomb turnovers. We were 12 for 26 at the rim, not winning numbers... It's just frustrating."
THE STEAL AND SLAM 💥
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Quadir Copeland getting it done on both ends for @PackMensBball!
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Wake Forest hadn't been an elite offensive unit through most of the season and relied heavily on the play of its guards, especially Juke Harris. While Harris scored 17, he was relatively inefficient, as was the entire team, in large part because of a great effort from NC State's switch-centric defensive scheme.
"I thought that Will's team did a really good job of switching us 1 through 5. And we just, we don't have enough guys willing or trying to get in there off of dribble," Forbes said. "... They did a good job, they're a physical defensive team... And they turned defense into offense, the way we kinda like to do it too. They just did it better than us today, no question."
The switching affected Wake Forest's guards greatly, according to Forbes. The Demon Deacons turned the ball over 16 times, one more than the Wolfpack in the game.
"When they do that, somebody has to catch a matchup and drive it, and then make the right play, right?" Forbes said. "Get in there, finish, up two, kick out. And we did some of that. And I thought when we got in there and kicked out, we had some pretty good looks for three, but we just didn't make enough of them."
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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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