Wes Moore Makes Sense of Wolfpack's Poor Effort

RALEIGH — NC State's rollercoaster season dipped once again during the quarterfinal matchup against Notre Dame at the 2026 Ally ACC Tournament on Friday, as the Fighting Irish throttled the Wolfpack 81-63. The loss quickly halted any momentum that coach Wes Moore felt his team was gaining over the final week of the regular season, sending the Wolfpack back to square one.

The entire season ebbed and flowed at a rate that became highly frustrating with Moore. That frustration and lack of clarity returned on a big stage on Friday. The veteran coach tried to make sense of his team's latest performance, while also thinking about the preparation process NC State must begin as it awaits an NCAA Tournament bid and location for over a week.

Moore's postgame thoughts

Mar 6, 2026; Duluth, GA, USA; North Carolina State Wolfpack head coach Wes Moore on the sideline against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the second quarter at Gas South Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

NC State hung around early, but never pulled within reach of the Fighting Irish, where it felt as though the Wolfpack had a chance to win the game outright. The Pack trailed by eight at the half, but completely crumbled in the third quarter. Rather than play the blame game, Moore took responsibility for his team's performance.

"I've got to look in the mirror," Moore said. "I've got to do a better job of getting the team prepared and demanding effort and competitiveness. Tip your hat, Two times in a row here, they've come out and just jumped on us and now we've got to try to figure out before the NCAA Tournament and try to get things fixed."

Zam Jone — Mar 6, 2026; Duluth, GA, USA; North Carolina State Wolfpack guard Zamareya Jones (3) drives to the basket against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the fourth quarter at Gas South Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Notre Dame outscored the Wolfpack 22-9 in the third quarter, ballooning the halftime lead significantly. Once the Fighting Irish were up by 20-plus, NC State looked like its fight was gone and it accepted defeat, hence Moore's comments about competitiveness after the game. The coach felt as though the overall effort in both halves was fairly unacceptable.

"That third quarter was horrible," Moore said. "I can't agree with you there. Second quarter, we turned it over nine times. Third quarter, we gave up 22 points. We gave up 23 points in the first quarter. You cannot give up 81 points and expect to win against good teams. Our goal in the past has been try to hold teams to 60 points, 15 a quarter."

Mar 6, 2026; Duluth, GA, USA; North Carolina State Wolfpack guard Devyn Quigley (0) grabs a rebound past Notre Dame Fighting Irish guard Vanessa de Jesus (2) in the fourth quarter at Gas South Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Moore continued to discuss his team's defense, offering some statistics as well as one of his patented analogies regarding the Wolfpack.

"ACC games, we're No. 1 in the conference in scoring. We're No. 6 in defense," he said. "We've got to realize that we're not a football team. We've got to play both ends."

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