Wade Takes Responsibility for Wolfpack's Effort Against Louisville

RALEIGH — There weren't many words NC State coach Will Wade could use to make sense of his team's 41-point loss to No. 24 Louisville on Monday. The ugly defeat ended a six-game win streak for the Wolfpack, which seemed to be getting over some of the inconsistency issues it dealt with during the first few months of the season.

For Wade, it was a frustrating result, but not one he believed was possible going in. The Pack ran into a buzzsaw, but it's the time of year that desperate teams are playing some of their best basketball. For that reason, Wade took the blame for his team's effort against the Cardinals.

What he said about the loss

Feb 9, 2026; Louisville, Kentucky, USA; NC State Wolfpack head coach Will Wade calls out instructions during the first half against the Louisville Cardinals at KFC Yum! Center. Louisville defeated N.C. State 118-77. Mandatory Credit: Jamie Rhodes-Imagn Images | Jamie Rhodes-Imagn Images

Things went south quickly in the game. The Wolfpack fell behind by 10 points in the blink of an eye, as the defensive intensity was not adequate to deal with Louisville's offense, which was sharp right out of the gate. Then, the 3-pointers from freshman guard Mikel Brown and senior guard Ryan Conwell started to fall. From that point on, the lead ballooned and it was over before it started.

The best way to describe NC State's on-court appearance as the game moved along was shellshocked. The Pack got caught off-guard with the pace of the game, despite going in hoping to avoid playing in a track meet similar to the one it got into against SMU. The flow of the game seemed to surprise them, with Wade explaining that he misread his team's energy level heading into the bout.

"We just didn't play to our capabilities tonight. That's on me as the coach," Wade said. "I didn't have us prepared. I didn't have us as ready as I thought we were and that's on me, not on those guys. Those guys, for the most part, tried to do what we asked them to do and I didn't have a very good plan. I didn't have a very good pulse of our group tonight."

Performances like Monday's effort can happen throughout the course of a season. The road loss won't hurt the Wolfpack, so long as it does what it's done all season long: recover. NC State lost two games in a row just one time earlier in the season, finishing the Maui Invitational with a loss before heading to Auburn for a brutal road game that it was similarly outclassed in. Wade will have a chance to correct things for his team on Saturday, as NC State hosts Miami.

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