When: Saturday February 7 – 12:00 PM
Where: Lenovo Center
TV: The CW
Opponent: Virginia Tech Hokies
Prediction – KenPom (KP) / Bart Torvik (BT): NC State 82-72 / NC State 82-71
| Team | PPG | PPG-OPP | FG% | 3PT% | 3PT-M | Reb | Ast | TO | ST | BL | Pts in Pnt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NC State | 85.8 | 72.4 | 48.0% | 40.1% | 11 | 35.9 | 16.9 | 9.6 | 8.5 | 3 | 24 |
| Va Tech | 80 | 74 | 44.9% | 34.5% | 8.3 | 35.8 | 14.3 | 10.3 | 7 | 3.7 | 38 |
Wolfpack Snapshot:
- Record: 17-6, 8-2
- Rankings: KP #23, BT #24, WAB +2.2 ranked 34
- NET: 25 (Q1: 3-5, Q2: 8-0, Q3: 2-1, Q4: 4-0) – 7th highest NET in the ACC
Wolfpack Season So Far:
Will Wade post SMU:
“We’d heard all the chatter. We’ve been beating up on the bottom of the league. All right. Well, we’ve now beaten two of the top teams in the league on the road.”
This is when ACC TV contracts (very fine print) say, “So NC State, you’ve got a little run going? And this is the toughest part of your schedule? How about two Saturday/Monday combos late in the season with Duke and Louisville as your Monday dance partners?”
Recent/Current double-headers:
- 2025-2026: (2/7 & 2/9) VT home Saturday (TBD) , Louisville away Monday (TBD)
- 2025-2026: (2/28 & 3/2) ND away Saturday (TBD), Duke home Monday (TBD)
- 2024-2025: SMU home Saturday (loss), Duke away Monday (loss)
- 2023-2024: UNC away Saturday (loss), Duke home Monday (loss)
Wolfpack ACC Conference Play Stats – 2nd offense, 5th defense, 7th FG%, 1st 3PT%, 1st 3PT per game, 4th FT%, 1st TO margin, 2nd Asst / TO ratio, 1st steals
What’s On the Line?
Virginia Tech is ranked NET 56, making this a Q2 game. So far the Wolfpack is 8-0 in Q2 games.
| Team | (H / A) | KenPom | KP Prediction | NET |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NC State | *** | 23 | *** | 25 |
| Duke (Q1) | H | 3 | L, 78-73 | 3 |
| UVA (Q1) | A | 16 | L, 79-74 | 17 |
| Louisville (Q1) | A | 19 | L, 83-79 | 18 |
| UNC (Q1) | H | 30 | W, 82-78 | 26 |
| Miami (Q2) | H | 39 | W, 82-76 | 39 |
| VT (Q2) | H | 60 | W, 82-72 | 56 |
| Stanford (Q3) | H | 79 | W, 83-71 | 77 |
| ND (Q2) | A | 82 | W, 78-72 | 85 |
Wolfpack Player Notes:
- Ven Lubin leads ACC in FG%
- Darrion Williams leads ACC in 3PT%
- 3PT per game: Paul McNeil Jr 3rd, Darrion Williams 4th
- Quadir Copeland leads ACC in Assists, 3rd in Assist / TO ratio
- Quadir Copeland 2nd in ACC in steals
- Most recent injury report included Snell & Langdon
Opponent Overview:
“…there’s no better time to be a fan of Hokie men’s basketball.” VT Preseason Media Guide
Coach Mike Young is in his seventh season, the last year of his contract. The VT media guide says, “You won’t find many better coaches in the country than the one that resides in Blacksburg…”. Counterpoint: At the beginning of the season, ESPN grouped him with Davis, Autrey, and Grant as the ACC coaches that badly needed a good season. Coach Young did win the ACC tournament in 2022 and made brief appearances in the NCAAT round of 64 in 2021 & 2022. But this is a “what have you done for me lately” world. Last season they were 13-19. The back 9 of their ACC schedule includes Duke (a loss Saturday), NC State – Away, Clemson – Away, Miami – Away, UNC – Away, and UVA – Away. A winning record in the ACC is going to take some work, but if they can pull it off – any of those would be quality wins – they could have a shot at the NCAA Tournament.
The highlight of their offseason was the signing of Greek pro, 6’9” freshman guard, Neoklis Avdalas – ranked as the No. 2 international newcomer in the Class of 2025 by 247Sports.
Opponent Snapshot:
- Record: 16-7, 5-5
- Rankings: KP #60, BT #63
- NET: 56 (Q1: 2-5, Q2: 5-1, Q3: 4-1, Q4: 5-0) – 10th highest NET in the ACC
Their Season So Far:
Va Tech was voted to finish 12th in the ACC preseason media. At the halfway point, they are ranked 8th.
| Best OOC Wins | ACC – Wins | ACC – Losses |
|---|---|---|
| Providence (NET 86) N | UVA H +10 | WF A -3 |
| Colorado ST (NET 100) N | Cal H +3 | Stanford H -1 |
| So Carolina (NET 105) A | ND H +13 | SMU A -1 |
| Syr A +2 | Lou A -14 | |
| GT H +6 | Duke H -14 |
Player Notes
- Amani Hansberry – 8th in rebounding in ACC play
- Neoklis Avdalas – 7th in assists in ACC play
- Ben Hammond – 8th in assist / turnover ratio in ACC play; 6th in steals in ACC play
- Tobi Lawal – 4th in blocked shots in ACC play
| Player | Class | Pos | Height | Weight | PPG | 3PT% | 3PTApg | REB | ASST | STL | BLK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amani Hansberry | JR | F | 6’8″ | 240 | 15 | 35.70% | 3.2 | 8.3 | 2.6 | 1.5 | 0.8 |
| Ben Hammond | so | G | 5’11’ | 170 | 12.8 | 40.9% | 2.9 | 2.2 | 3.3 | 1.9 | 0.1 |
| Neoklis Avdalas | FR | G | 6’9″ | 215 | 12.5 | 28.1% | 5.2 | 3.1 | 4.8 | 0.7 | 0.6 |
| Tobi Lawal | SR | F | 6’8″ | 215 | 11.1 | 14.3% | 2 | 8.6 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 1.7 |
| Jailen Bedford | GR | G | 6’4″ | 190 | 11 | 34.70% | 4.6 | 3.2 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 0 |
What to watch for:
- Darrion Williams consistency – Three consecutive games scoring 20+
- Quadir Copeland avoiding fouls – Q is probably going to be matched up with 6’9” guard Avdalas. He is averaging 3.3 fouls in ACC games.
- Tre Holloman is back – In the five-game winning streak, he is averaging 26.6 mins per game, averaging 9 points per game, shooting 36% from 3PT, and has totaled 10 assists and only 4 turnovers.
- Matt Able is trending better and better – Against SMU, Matt had the highest +/- (12) on either team.
- NCST – record watch – McNeil has 73 made 3PT shots after 23 games. tracking for 98.39 in the regular season. DJ Horne’s record is 105 (88 reg. season, 17 post season)
- 3PT Battle! – The ACC’s best 3PT% team versus the ACC’s 3rd best at defending the 3PT shot in ACC play
- VT – Rebounding? – Offensive rebounding – 5th , BUT defensive rebounding – 14th in ACC play
- VT – Turnovers? – 5th most in turnovers forced (12.4), BUT 4th most in turnovers lost in ACC play (11.5)
Prediction:
After back-to-back Q1 road wins, NC State returns home to a packed Lenovo. The crowd is pumped, excited to see Scottie again. The Wolfpack takes an early double-digit lead, but the Hokies settle down and close the gap by halftime. The Pack, not to be trifled with, stretches the lead to double-digits and wins comfortably, 80-69.