What the Clemson Win Did For NC State's Rankings
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NC State needed to find a way to recover after being dealt a significant resumé blemish on Saturday with the loss to Georgia Tech. It dug deep on the road against the No. 18 Clemson Tigers, eventually coming out on top in overtime 80-76 at Littlejohn Coliseum. While the team has been inconsistent all year, the victory felt like a step in the right direction.
The up-and-down nature of Will Wade's first Wolfpack team makes it a volatile team to track on the various rankings services. Other than a brief one-week stint on the AP Top 25, NC State hasn't been in the mix nationally since. On this episode of the NC State Insider Podcast, host and lead beat writer Tucker Sennett breaks down where things stand for the Pack across the ranking services.
Watch the episode here
Takeaways from the Clemson win
In the overtime win, Darrion Williams finished with a 29.5% usage rate, while Quadir Copeland hovered at 24.5% on the night. That was a near-perfect scenario in Wade's view, as the two players dominated the ball, but still were effective distributors and scorers. Williams finished with 17 points, shooting an inefficient 5-of-17 from the field, while Copeland scored 16, making 4-of-10 shots and adding six assists.
"It doesn't always look pretty but over the course of 40 minutes, if we keep the ball in his hands for a majority of the game, if we keep the ball in him and (Copeland's) hands about the equal amount of time over the course of 40 minutes, it's winning basketball," Wade said. "... All this stuff is going to look kind of clunky, but it wins."
NC State's win over Clemson will be one that significantly bolsters the tournament resumé. It marked what bracketologists and analysts would call a Quadrant 1-A win for the Pack, as it came on the road against a talented (and ranked) squad. From an eye-test point of view, it gives Wade his first win over a ranked opponent as the head coach of the Wolfpack, as he came up short against Auburn and Kansas earlier in the year.
As of Thursday, NC State is up to 27th according to KenPom and 29th according to the NET rankings. The program ranks fifth in the NET rankings when compared to other ACC squads, still trailing North Carolina, despite the Tar Heels' issues during their California road trip.
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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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