#9 NC State Beats Wake Forest 78-57, Secures Undefeated Home Record for the Regular Season

#9 NC State defeated Wake Forest 78-57 tonight, finishing with a perfect 16-0 regular season record at Reynolds Coliseum this season. This marks the second time the Wolfpack have achieved this feat under Wes Moore. They have now won 21 straight games at Reynolds, which is the longest home winning streak in the ACC, the sixth-longest in the nation, and the fourth-longest among all Power 4 schools.

It was a bittersweet victory because the Wolfpack honored four seniors who played their last home regular season game at Reynolds: Aziaha James, Saniya Rivers, Madison Hayes, and Lizzy Williamson. James, Rivers, and Hayes have been one of the best starting guard trios in college basketball for the past two years.

Aziaha James led the squad tonight with 21 points and 4 assists (tied for team-high). Although James did not shoot well tonight, making only 7 of 21 from the field, she did hit 6 three-pointers (6-15). Tonight marks the 13th time this year that James has scored 20+ points.

After scoring a career-high of 33 points against Notre Dame on Sunday, sophomore Zoe Brooks chipped in 17 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists (tied for team-high). Brooks was extremely efficient, shooting 5 of 8 from the field and 2 of 3 from three, while committing zero turnovers.

Madison Hayes added 14 points and a team-high 9 rebounds, making 5 of her 9 shots.

The Wolfpack didn’t shoot lights out tonight, making only 43.1% from the field, but their defense smothered the Demon Deacons, holding them to 33.3%.

NC State’s shooting from behind the arc was more impressive than their field goal percentage, connecting on 11 threes (36.7%).

The Wolfpack’s performance was dominant tonight, not allowing the Deacs to lead for a single second.

NC State had nine fewer turnovers, forcing Wake Forest to turn the ball over 16 times. They were +5 in points off of turnovers and +4 in second chance points.

The only area where the Deacs held an advantage was at the free throw line, shooting six more from the charity stripe and making six more.

If #3 Notre Dame loses to #24 Florida State tonight, NC State would be tied with the Fighting Irish at the top of the ACC standings but would technically hold the #1 spot after beating them head-to-head at Reynolds this past Sunday.

The Wolfpack will close out the regular season on Sunday at SMU at noon on the ACC Network.