NC State’s Late Season Collapse Continues with Loss to Stanford

NC State continued its late-season collapse this afternoon, falling 85-84 to Stanford in the Lenovo Center. The Wolfpack was an 8.5-point favorite. NC State closed out the regular season on a four-game losing streak, dropping six of its last seven.

It’s hard to put into words how this team unraveled.

Well, I might as well painstakingly write out the words describing today’s debacle.

Would you have guessed that NC State would allow an opposing player to score 33 points? Never would have thought. Stanford freshman guard Ebuka Okorie finished the day with 33 points, making 13 of 22 from the field and a blistering 5 of 8 from three. Sure, Okorie scoring 20+ points wasn’t a surprise. He was averaging 22.8 entering the contest. Nonetheless, the Wolfpack had zero answers.

Do you find it shocking that NC State allowed an opposing player — someone you don’t expect to do anything — to play the best game of their career? At this point, you might as well print out the roster of the other team, close your eyes, throw a dart at the wall, and whoever it lands on will light NC State up. Today was no different.

Redshirt sophomore forward Jaylen Thompson entered today averaging 1.4 points per game in 9.4 minutes. Today, Thompson got the start and contributed 15 points and 6 rebounds, making 6 of 12 shots. His point and rebound totals were both season highs. Previously, his season highs were 8 points and 4 rebounds. Today’s 15 points marks a career high.

Whether it’s the opposing team’s best player or someone who suddenly lights it up like they never have before, the Wolfpack always seem to get torched by somebody.

In a one-point loss, it’s not hard to figure out the difference between the teams. The two teams had nearly identical shooting percentages, with Stanford shooting 48.5% from the field and the Wolfpack shooting 48.1%.

The difference?

NC State allowed Stanford to shoot an insane 62.1% in the second half.

No one would have picked UNC transfer Ven-Allen Lubin to be NC State’s MVP this season, but I’ll give him the award. No one has been more consistent. After scoring 17 points today to lead the Pack, Lubin finished the regular season as the team leader in total points. That was on no one’s preseason bingo card. If it was, shoot me the link.

Lubin made 6 of his 8 shots, which is par for the course for him, as he leads the ACC in field goal percentage. He also pulled down 11 rebounds, logging his 7th double-double of the year.

Quadir Copeland had a productive day scoring, chipping in 16 points, but it was one of his worst performances otherwise. Q finished with 2 assists and 5 turnovers and fouled out of the game. One of those turnovers came with 25 seconds left, with NC State having a chance to tie the game.

Tre Holloman played his best game in a month, scoring 15 points, making 4 of 6 from the field, 2 of 4 from three, and 5 of 5 from the charity stripe, while committing zero turnovers.

Paul McNeil Jr. and Matt Able both chipped in 13 points.

Look, I know Darrion Williams has received a lot of criticism this season, and Will Wade famously exploded in a press conference defending him. But let’s face the facts: Williams was picked as the ACC Preseason Player of the Year.

Whatever NC State paid for him, they overpaid.

Williams finished today with 4 points, shooting 1 of 8 from the field.

Plain and simple, this NC State team was built around Darrion Williams being “the guy.” Look, I’m not saying Williams has been an absolute dud. He finished the regular season averaging 14 points per game, which honestly isn’t that different from last year, roughly one point less.

But Williams ended the season shooting 41.2% from the field, which simply isn’t a number a team can rely on from its supposed star.

I could say more, but I’ll let it lie for now.

As far as I can tell, NC State is a lock for the #7 seed in the ACC Tournament next week. The Wolfpack is currently tied with Florida State at 10-8 in ACC play, and they defeated the Seminoles earlier this year.

California is currently beating Wake Forest, and if the Golden Bears win, they will also finish 10-8, creating a three-way tie. In a three-way tie, the tiebreaker is the combined head-to-head record among the tied teams.

NC State has the best winning percentage of the trio, going 1-0 against FSU. The Seminoles beat Cal but lost to the Wolfpack. The Golden Bears didn’t play NC State but lost to the Seminoles.

Are NC State fans satisfied with a 7th-place finish in Wade’s first year?

I don’t think so. And I don’t think they should be.

The Wolfpack was picked to finish 4th in the official ACC Preseason Poll. A few weeks ago, NC State was projected to be a #7 seed in the NCAA Tournament, possibly even a #6 seed.

Entering today’s game, NC State had an average projected seed of 9.33 at Bracket Matrix, with several top bracketologists already moving them to a #10 seed.

After today’s loss, NC State is no longer a lock to even make the Big Dance.

NC State finishes the regular season 19-12 overall. The Wolfpack now has a real chance to finish the season with fewer than 20 wins, something absolutely no one saw coming given the preseason hype surrounding the “Red Reckoning.”

Do I think Will Wade can still do amazing things in the ACC?

Yes, I do.

But it simply needs to be said:

Year 1 was far from a Red Reckoning.