The No. 7 seed NC State Wolfpack used a balanced offensive attack and a scorching shooting performance to defeat the No. 15 seed Pittsburgh Panthers 98–88 on Wednesday in the second round of the ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament.
Guard Quadir Copeland led the Wolfpack with 24 points and eight assists, while Ven-Allen Lubin added 18 points to help lift NC State to its 20th win of the season. With the victory, NC State (20–12) advances to the quarterfinals where it will face No. 2 seed and 10th-ranked Virginia Cavaliers on Thursday.
Both teams came out firing in a high-scoring first half. NC State and Pittsburgh each shot better than 60% from the field before the break, combining for 101 points in the opening 20 minutes. The Wolfpack held a slim 51–50 advantage at halftime as both squads placed three players in double figures.
NC State was especially efficient from long range, hitting 7 of 9 attempts from 3-point range in the first half. Pittsburgh countered by knocking down 9 of its 16 shots from beyond the arc to keep the game tight.
The Panthers had earlier seized momentum midway through the half when Nojus Indrusaitis drilled three consecutive 3-pointers. His third straight make gave Pitt its eighth 3-pointer in just 12 attempts and pushed the Panthers ahead 34–25.
NC State seized control shortly after the break. The Wolfpack opened the second half with a 12–2 run, stretching their lead to 63–52 before Pittsburgh finally scored its first field goal of the half with 16:31 remaining.
The outside shooting continued to fuel the Wolfpack offense. Matt Able buried NC State’s 11th 3-pointer — in just 15 attempts — to give the Wolfpack a commanding 76–62 lead.
NC State finished the night 13-of-23 from beyond the arc, while Pitt closed 12-of-27 from deep.
The Panthers made a late push, but a key sequence in the final minutes helped the Wolfpack put the game away. With 2:13 remaining, officials reviewed a play in which Lubin was pushed from behind on an alley-oop attempt and upgraded the call to a flagrant-1 foul.
Lubin calmly sank both free throws to extend the lead to 92–83. Moments later, Paul McNeil Jr. converted a layup to complete the four-point possession and push the advantage to 11 points.
McNeil finished with 15 points for NC State, while Tre Holloman added 14. Darrion Williams and Able chipped in 12 points each in the well-rounded scoring effort.
Pittsburgh (13–20) was paced by a career night from Cameron Corhen, who scored 27 points. Indrusaitis delivered a season-high 19 points, and Omari Witherspoon also finished with 19.
Despite their strong perimeter shooting and early lead, the Panthers could not keep up with NC State’s second-half surge.
NC State now turns its attention to a difficult quarterfinal matchup against Virginia. The Wolfpack dropped both regular-season meetings with the Cavaliers, including a decisive 90–61 loss on Feb. 24.
With their offense clicking and confidence rising after Wednesday’s win, however, the Wolfpack will look to reverse that trend and keep their ACC Tournament run alive.
