Wolfpack Ready for Midweek Bout Against Texas Southern

RALEIGH — NC State finds itself at something of a fork in the road of the 2025-26 season, Will Wade's first as the head coach of the program. The major matchups throughout the non-conference slate didn't go to plan, leaving the Wolfpack with a 7-4 record in the final week of that portion of the schedule.

The next opponent on deck for the Pack should offer the team a chance to collect itself after a heartbreaking overtime loss to Kansas, which moved up to No. 17 in Monday's updated AP Top 25. NC State welcomes Texas Southern to Reynolds Coliseum rather than the Lenovo Center on Wednesday, playing in its annual heritage game at the iconic venue.

Fighting the Tigers

The Texas Southern Tigers, led by head coach Johnny Jones, enter the matchup as one of the worst programs in the nation. They rank 326th out of 365 eligible programs in the latest KenPom rankings. TSU will easily be the worst opponent the Wolfpack faces in the 2025-26 season, but it still figures to be in the mix in the Southwestern Athletic Conference.

Jones' group doesn't excel in anything that will trouble the Wolfpack greatly, shooting a dismal 30% from 3-point range, while allowing opponents to shoot 35.2% from beyond the arc. After playing one of the best perimeter defenses in the country with the Jayhawks, NC State should be far more comfortable shooting the basketball in the smaller arena than it was on Saturday.

WIll Wade and Brandon Chamber — Mar 22, 2025; Providence, RI, USA; McNeese State Cowboys head coach Will Wade during the second half of a second round men’s NCAA Tournament game against the Purdue Boilermakers at Amica Mutual Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images | Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images

NC State isn't without its connections to Texas Southern, somewhat unsurprisingly. Most of the Wolfpack's non-conference opponents in Wade's first season were loosely affiliated with Wade, through old coaching stops, or the school in some way. NC State's lead defensive assistant, Brandon Chambers, coached at Texas Southern under Jones before reuniting with Wade from their VCU days.

Chambers helped the Tigers reach a pair of NCAA Tournaments and assisted Jones in getting TSU its second Tournament victory in the First Four in Dayton. He will try to lead a slowly-improving NC State defense against an offense that boasts just two players averaging more than 10 points a game, with UT Arlington transfer Troy Hupstead leading the way at 14.7 points per game.

The NC State side of things

NC State mb — Dec 6, 2025; Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; NC State Wolfpack guard Jordan Snell (0) is celebrated by his teammates during the second half of the game against the Liberty Flames at Lenovo Center. Mandatory Credit: Jaylynn Nash-Imagn Images | Jaylynn Nash-Imagn Images

The Wolfpack shot just 26% from beyond the arc against the Jayhawks, so things can't get much worse in that category. NC State did regain some confidence offensively as the game moved along, especially with prized transfer forward Darrion Williams showing signs of a resurgence after he scored 17 points. Quadir Copeland continues to show improved scoring ability as well.

Wade stressed the importance of developing some depth in the rotation behind standout forward Ven-Allen Lubin, so the Texas Southern matchup offers an opportunity to work on that. Players like Jerry Deng and Musa Sagnia could be in line for more playing time after seeing limited work against the Jayhawks and other high-profile teams in the non-conference slate.

Should the game go poorly for the Wolfpack, it might be time to ring some alarm bells, but there's no reason to expect that.

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