Instant observations: NC State coasts past Wake Forest to open ACC play

After an up-and-down non-conference slate, which featured wins over the teams it should beat and losses in the resume-building contests, NC State entered ACC play with a chip on its shoulder. It didn’t hurt itself through the first 13 games, but it didn’t help itself either.   In all reality, the Wolfpack needs to play well in league action to have enough of a full body of work to make the NCAA Tournament in the first year of the Will Wade Era, something the ever-confident coach promised in his introductory press conference.  And the Pack got off on the right foot in conference competition with a 70-57 win over Wake Forest on Wednesday afternoon in a matinee inside the Lenovo Center.  NC State, which weathered a rocky offensive effort, was able to keep itself afloat in the second half as it built a double-digit lead early in the period and clung to it the rest of the way. The Wolfpack shot 42.4 percent from the field, including 28.6 from 3-point distance, while it limited the Demon Deacons to just a 33.9 percent shooting clip in the first of two meetings between the squads. Senior guard Quadir Copeland led the Pack with 14 points, while sophomore guard Paul McNeil added 13 and senior forward Ven-Allen Lubin chipped in with 12 points and 11 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the year. Here are TheWolfpacker.com’s observations from the program’s first ACC win of the campaign.