Will Wade Breaks Down NC State's Loss to No. 20 Auburn
In this story:
NC State's non-conference skid continued with a tough road loss against No. 20 Auburn in Neville Arena on Wednesday night. The Wolfpack failed to contain two Tiger players, Keyshawn Hall and Kevin Overton, who combined for 57 points in Auburn's 83-73 win over the Pack.
The defensive woes NC State dealt with in the Southwest Maui Invitational still existed to a degree, as the Wolfpack allowed Auburn to shoot 12-of-22 from 3-point range and make 19-of-22 free throws. However, the Wolfpack had larger issues against the Tigers.
Final from Auburn. pic.twitter.com/Wl5d8J2PcY
— NC State Men's Basketball (@PackMensBball) December 4, 2025
NC State shot a season-low 40.6% and failed to score more than 80 points for the second time of the year. The Wolfpack has lost both of those games, with the other being the loss to Seton Hall on Maui.
Even so, Wade was more encouraged by the effort of his team Wednesday night. The Pack hung around in one of the most difficult places to play in all of college basketball, signifying an improvement in mental fortitude before the grind of the ACC conference schedule begins in less than a month.
Wade's thoughts on the loss
After the loss to the Texas Longhorns on Maui, Wade felt that his group lacked the edge that he was looking for. The Wolfpack tried to fight back, but never felt like the aggressor against the Longhorns, or throughout most of the Maui Invitational, for that matter. Wade felt his team improved in many facets Wednesday night.
"We were better tonight. We were better than we were in Hawaii tonight when we got four of our five game standards," the coach said. "I mean, reality is they made some threes and we missed threes and they made some tough threes... Look, we don't ever want to lose, but this was way more encouraging than Hawaii in my mind."
Two-handed hammer drop! 🔨🔨
— ACC Men's Basketball (@accmbb) December 4, 2025
📺 ESPN x @PackMensBball pic.twitter.com/KEfm30tAxL
The defensive strategy was a point of contention for Wade before he left for Maui, as he defended the game plan after being asked about the Wolfpack's tendency to leave shooters with space because of analytics and data NC State held in its pocket. Whatever that strategy might be, it doesn't seem to be working to the degree Wade and the coaching staff hoped.
"We don't want to hope that they miss," Wade said. "We post-trapped, but we called off the post-trap tonight. We went more solo in the post tonight than we've done all year. We haven't been turning teams over 20% on the post-trap teams and then shooting like 57% from two and 42% from three against us."
Wade and the Wolfpack now face a more tenuous situation from a resumé standpoint, as the opportunities for non-conference wins of greater quality are dwindling. The coach still believes his team can salvage the non-conference campaign, however.
"We're in a tough spot. We got to fight our way out," Wade said. "We put ourselves in it. We got to dig ourselves out. And we will."
Ensure you follow on X (Twitter) @WolfpackOnSI and @SennettTucker and never miss another breaking news story again.
Please let us know your thoughts when you like our Facebook page WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE.
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.
Follow SennettTucker