Instant observations: NC State blows past No. 16 UNC

By Noah Fleischman

After back-to-back losses in polar opposite fashion — a 41-point blowout defeat at Louisville and a blown seven-point lead in the final minute against Miami — NC State coach Will Wade wasn’t sure what to expect with North Carolina visiting. 

Would his team wake up and play with an intensity it lacked last week to snap its two-game skid? Or would that horrid set of performances carry over into the rivalry meeting with the Tar Heels?

Well, the first-year coach was hopeful for the former, but knew UNC wouldn’t just roll over walking into a sold-out Lenovo Center. 

“We don’t want to lose one game in a row,” Wade said Monday morning. “We need a win, but North Carolina wants a win too. It’s not quite that simple, but hopefully we come out and play with a little bit more of an edge than we have been.”

It didn’t take long for Wade and the Wolfpack to find out which version of the team came to play. It was the one that the honest and fiery coach dreamed of, jumping out to a double-digit lead eight minutes into the contest to coast the rest of the way. 

NC State knocked off No. 16 UNC 82-58 to stop its two-game losing streak behind a complementary effort of a red-hot offense and a stifling defense against the shorthanded Tar Heels. It marked the Pack’s largest margin of victory over the Tar Heels since 1962.

The Wolfpack shot 48.4 percent from the field, including a 9-of-20 mark from three-point range, while limiting the Tar Heels to just a 31.7 percent clip and a 5-of-33 total beyond the arc. 

Senior guard Quadir Copeland led the NC State with 20 points, 7 assists and 6 rebounds, while freshman guard Matt Able added 19 points and senior post Ven-Allen Lubin chipped in with 12 points.

Here are TheWolfpacker.com’s observations from the blowout win.

Hello, Quadir Copeland

UNC was without its top two frontcourt options, Caleb Wilson and Henri Veesaar, which opened up the paint for NC State’s offense to do what it pleased. That meant Copeland could do whatever he wanted with the ball in his hands. 

From gliding through the porous defense like a hot knife through butter to using his strength at 6-foot-6 to battle among the Tar Heel traps, Copeland was the most comfortable he’s been on the floor for the Wolfpack. He was able to weasel his way to the rim, usually finishing with ease before flexing his biceps as he trotted back down the court. 

Copeland, the Pack’s emotional leader on the floor, made quick work of UNC’s decimated interior with his offense, but he was also able to affect winning in other ways, too. The former McNeese transfer corralled 6 rebounds, while dishing 7 assists with his silky smooth passing as the team’s top playmaker with his 7-of-16 shooting performance. 

In short, Copeland put UNC’s defense in hell with his long and powerful frame as an unconventional point guard. No matter what the Tar Heels tried to do, Copeland worked through it with ease to pace the Wolfpack’s offense.

The only thing that stopped him? The officials’ whistle and the padded seat on NC State’s home bench, for which he received a standing ovation upon each exit from the game.

Three-point defense improves

Entering the night, it seemed as if NC State’s three-point shooting offense would be the story. After all, it started the game as the ACC’s leader at 39.4 percent, while the Tar Heels boasted a pedestrian perimeter defense that ranked 182nd nationally (34.0 percent).

And while the Wolfpack knocked down 45.0 percent of its triples, it was NC State’s three-point defense that stole the show. Wade’s group allowed opponents to make 34.7 percent of their triples entering the night, but it was able to fly around the outside with authority early and often against the Tar Heels.

The result? A 1-of-18 start from beyond the three-point line as a team. It took UNC until 17:38 left in the game for it to hit its second trey of the night. At that point, NC State already led by 16.

NC State’s perimeter defense showed immense growth against UNC, which was going to have to rely on its outside shooting to have a puncher’s chance with its top two scorers on the bench due to injuries. The Tar Heels didn’t have the size to consistently challenge the Wolfpack’s interior defense, led by Lubin, forcing the visitors to be a one-dimensional offense. 

And their perimeter shots were bricks, more often than not, allowing NC State to roll past UNC to the historic win.

Injury scare … but not for long

After establishing himself with three quick buckets to boost NC State’s quick start, senior forward Darrion Williams went up to contest a Jarin Stevenson shot around the rim. But as he came back down to the court, the Texas Tech transfer appeared to land on the left side of his face without being able to brace his fall with 15:20 to play in the first half.

At the moment, it seemed like the worst-case scenario for the Wolfpack with its star player laying on the court as blood spilled from his face. NC State’s training staff rushed to his aid as he lay on his stomach under the basket closest to the home bench, using a mountain of towels to stop and clean up the bleeding on the floor. 

Williams was quickly ushered to the Pack’s locker room, holding a towel on the left side of his face. He spent 20 minutes in the back receiving stitches before Shawn Eddy, the team’s trainer, cleared him to return with just over eight minutes to go in the opening half. 

And once Williams returned from the locker room, donning a No. 34 jersey since his usual No. 1 was bloodied, the sold-out home crowd gave him a standing ovation. It took just seconds on the bench for Wade to reinsert Williams back into the lineup, which energized an already raucous crowd. 

Williams, a steadying force for the Wolfpack offense, returned for a four-minute stint on the floor to play eight minutes in the opening period. He looked more like himself after halftime, changing back into his normal jersey, to shoot 3 of 6 across the final 20 minutes. 

In total, Williams scored 13 points with a rebound in his rivalry debut.