NC State is expected to receive an at-large berth in the NCAA Tournament.
Posted 3/12/2026, 4:56:05 PM Updated 3/12/2026, 10:29:31 PM
ACC Tournament: Quadir Copeland addresses NC State's loss to Virginia
CHARLOTTE — After two regular-season blowout losses to Virginia, NC State could take solace in its improved effort against the Cavaliers on Thursday in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament.
But the seventh-seeded Wolfpack, which by all bracket projections will play its next game in the NCAA Tournament, wasn’t looking for faint praise or pats on the back after its 81-74 loss at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte.
“We think we’re good enough to beat them,” NC State guard Quadir Copeland said. “We don’t think we’re good enough to just be in a fight. We want to beat teams like this. We don’t just want to be in a fight and people pat us on our back for that. We know what type of team we are.”
But NC State (20-13) couldn’t get past the second-seeded Cavaliers, stymied, in large part, by Virginia’s 7-foot senior Ugonna Onyenso. Onyenso had eight points, six rebounds and eight blocks, including a critical one in the final 30 seconds when NC State trailed 78-74 with the ball.
“We're not into moral victories,” NC State first-year coach Will Wade said. “You either get the job done or you don't, and we didn't get the job done today.”
It’s been the story of Wade’s first season.
Good enough to tantalize and rack up 20 victories and that likely NCAA Tournament berth, but just not good enough to finish games that could have turned the season into something more special. Wade can rattle off the near misses and often does.
Stanford by one, Notre Dame in overtime, Miami by one after scoring the game’s final eight points, lowly Georgia Tech in a game NC State led by eight in the second half, Kansas in overtime.
Maybe it’s size. It certainly was a big factor on Thursday.
In addition to the blocks, Onyenso — playing big minutes because of foul trouble from 7-foot freshman center Johann Grunloh — altered any number of shots, one reason for NC State’s poor shooting performance. The Wolfpack were 2-of-17 from 2-point range in the second half.
One day after shooting a season-best 60.8% from the field in a win against No. 15 seed Pittsburgh, undersized NC State shot 36.8% from the field.
“Really deterred us from being more efficient on offense,” said Ven-Allen Lubin, who had 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Even a hot shooting night from Paul McNeil, who made 6-of-11 3-pointers en route to a game-high 26 points, couldn’t offset the Wolfpack’s interior struggles.
That the Wolfpack played with increased effort, particularly on defense, is certainly a plus. But, as Wade pointed out, it doesn’t explain why the Wolfpack didn’t bring it in the first two meetings with Virginia or a host of other games.
“In order to beat these teams, we know we have to play hard for 40 minutes,” said Copeland, who had nine points, six assists and three blocks but shot just 3-of-10 from the field. “Just stay consistent. That’s the main important thing. Not getting happy about losses. I’m glad we fought them, but at the end of the day we still lost.”
Said Wade: “The reality is we should have played more like this the first two games, and we didn't. That's why we were in this position. That's why we were the 7 seed.”
That’s the great unknown for this NC State team, which was picked to finish fourth in the ACC behind preseason player of the year Darrion Williams. Will it put forth the necessary effort at all times? Will it do enough of the small things — a box out here, a rotation there, a simple pass when needed — that add up in the types of one- and two-possession games that they’ve faced all season and are bound to see in the NCAA Tournament?
This was an NCAA Tournament-style game, an NCAA Tournament opponent.
“We just didn’t have the attention to detail that we need to win a game of this magnitude," Wade said.
Time is running out for NC State to find it.
Good wasn’t good enough Thursday. And it may not be good enough for however many games NC State has left.
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