Wolfpack Flips Offensive Script in Second Wake Forest Matchup
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RALEIGH — Days before NC State faced Wake Forest for the second time of the 2025-26 season, head coach Will Wade expressed his disappointment in his team's performance in the earlier win over the Demon Deacons, particularly on the offensive end. The Wolfpack completely flipped the script on a snowy Saturday in Winston-Salem, beating Wake Forest 96-78 in the Joel Coliseum.
Wade's group rode a tremendous offensive start and strong first half to the win. 3-point shooting from sophomore guard Paul McNeil and senior forward Darrion Williams accounted for a sizable chunk of the offense, but it was a team effort. The complete turnaround pushed NC State to 5-0 on the road in ACC play, 7-2 in the league and 16-6 overall in Wade's first season.
Wade's disappointment
As he always does, Wade joined the "Wolfpack Weekly" radio show on Thursday to answer questions and discuss the progress of the team in his first season at the helm. It was then that Wade revealed his disappointment in the first 70-57 victory over the Demon Deacons. The coach offered a long list of issues that plagued his team during that game back on Dec. 31.
"We turned it over 15 times. 20% of our possessions, we turned the ball over," Wade said. "We won the game by 13, but it was our worst offensive output. It was our worst offensive rating. It was our second-worst effective field goal percentage. It was our worst turnover game and we shot 1-of-13 on mid-range jump shots because we fell for the bait on their defense."
Fixing the issues
Nearly all of those issues were erased in Saturday's win. The Wolfpack lit up the stat sheet offensively, shooting 54% from the field and 57% from 3-point range. The team buried 16-of-28 attempts from beyond the arc, with McNeil scoring 28 points and making six of those shots. Williams added another five 3-pointers and 20 points of his own, despite dealing with a nagging Achilles injury.
"We weren't very good in the first game against Wake. We were very fortunate to win," Wade said. "They missed a lot of open shots. Our offense was pretty poor... I think we're making progress. You put 96 points up on the road, that's hard to do. 19 assists on 33 made baskets is really good as well."
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The 3-point shooting stood out most, but Wade tempered expectations for the offense moving forward. A major part of the success stemmed from the fact that Wake Forest likes to drop off in coverage, allowing the Wolfpack's shooters more room and time to operate off smooth passes from Quadir Copeland and Tre Holloman, who tallied 10 and three assists, respectively.
"We're not going to shoot 57%. We can't control how we shoot every night, but we can control the quality of shots that we get," Wade said. "I thought our quality of threes, I can think of two or three that were pretty poor, but all of the rest of our quality of threes I think were pretty good. I focus on what we can control, which is the quality of our shots and I think our shot quality was solid today."
After three quick turnovers, Wade felt his team adjusted to the defensive coverage Wake Forest was showing. He was proud of Holloman and Copeland for taking the reins as the primary distributors throughout the game, with the former stepping into a larger role as Williams sat through most of the second half with his injury. Distribution likely won the day for the Wolfpack.
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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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