NC State escapes VCU. What we learned from the win over Will Wade’s former team

“Whoop There It Is” played over the speakers at Lenovo Center during the final timeout. N.C. State men’s basketball forced an in-bounds turnover and Tre Holloman went to the line for a pair of free throws up four points with 6.9 seconds to go.

A win over Virginia Commonwealth was in its grasp. Holloman hit both free throws to give his team a six-point lead. Game over.

N.C. State pulled off the 85-79 victory after its biggest test of the season, sending head coach Will Wade’s former program back to Richmond with its second loss of the season.

It was a hard-fought win, filled with mistakes, but late-game execution allowed the Wolfpack to start 4-0 before heading on the road for the first time. “We were very fortunate to win,” N.C. State head coach Will Wade said. We got outshot by 12 balls, which is hard to do. We won it at the free throw line. We drew a bunch of fouls. We didn’t make nine-plus threes. [Phil] Martelli’s teams have never won when the opponent makes nine-plus threes, out-shoots them and out rebounds, and we only got one of those three. You’re living very, very dangerously when you can’t get two or three of those things.”

N.C. State made eight 3-pointers, made 25 field goals — VCU had 27 made baskets — and finished with a 45-31 rebounding advantage.

Darrion Williams led the team with 28 points, while Holloman recorded a career-high 25.

N.C. State has one of the best offenses in the country. According to KenPom stats, the Wolfpack ranks in the national top 25 for seven performance-related categories and averaged 106 points in the first three contests.

VCU’s defense, however, effectively kept N.C. State from breaking away at any point. VCU took a 1-point lead to open the game, before Williams made N.C. State’s first five points. The teams were tied at 13 with 15:39 to go in the first half, but the Wolfpack used a 12-3 run and built a nine-point advantage.

The Rams (2-2), as expected, provided a tough test on both ends of the floor and remained within a few possessions. They went to the half trailing the Wolfpack by four.

N.C. State’s offense started the second half slow, and its defense didn’t pick up the slack. VCU shot 6 of 8 from the field before the under-16 media timeout, while N.C. State shot 3 of 7, out-scoring the home squad 14-11. The Rams’ efficiency allowed them to tie the game twice in the second half.

VCU had a chance to take the lead twice but missed free throws cost them. Tyrell Ward missed went 1 of 2 with 9:49 remaining, and Jadrian Tracey missed the and-1 30 seconds later. The Rams missed four game-tying 3-pointers in the final three minutes, as well.

Williams started the game 5 of 5 from the field and 2 of 2 from 3-point range. He did not miss a shot for nearly 13 minutes. At halftime, Williams led all scorers with 17 points on 7 of 10 shooting. He entered the game averaging 21.7 points per game and making 64.7% of his 3-point baskets, ranking No. 12 in the nation and No. 2 in the ACC.

The forward finished 9 of 15 from the field with seven rebounds. Holloman shot 6 of 12 from the field and hit a trio of 3s. He also went 10 for 10 from the free throw line. “We’ve got to cut down on some of the turnovers,” Wade said. “We’ve got to cut down on some of the silliness on some things, but he’s getting more and more professional. He’s getting more and more businesslike. I think that he’s going to continue to grow throughout the season. I’ve been very pleased.”

Paul McNeil, who averaged 20 points in the first three games, went 0 for 4 against VCU without a point. The sophomore still added nine rebounds, three assists, one steal and one block. His teammates also said they want him to keep shooting his shot.

Ven-Allen Lubin contributed 11 points and nine rebounds, five on the offensive glass.

N.C. State’s defense has been a work in progress all season, playing well in spurts but not for full games. That remained true against VCU.

The Rams had success moving the ball in their first three games. They averaged 15 assists per game and ranked No. 14 in the country with a 67.9% assist rate. The Rams ended the game with 17 assists for a 63% assist rate. Williams said the Pack needed to follow the game plan better. There were schematic aspects it didn’t accomplish that will need to be corrected going forward.

Barry Evans led the Rams with 18 points, while Jadrian Tracey added 16 points and seven assists.

“VCU is not some charity program It’s a real program,” Wade said. “They win 20-plus games every year; 22 to 25 games every year. … “They’re as good as many teams in our league. I think it makes sense when you’ve got to build a resume to play good teams. I mean, the games are going to be tough, but it makes a lot of sense to play good teams.”

Here’s what we learned from the latest Wolfpack win:

Sagnia steps up

After the Wolfpack allowed the Rams to pull down four offensive rebounds and six second-chance points in the first 4 ½ minutes, Musa Sagnia came in to help clean up the glass and provide a larger presence on the box outs. In the next four minutes, the team gave up two offensive boards but no additional second-chance points.

Sagnia played 15 minutes after the break, including a large stretch alongside Lubin, which helped his team hold VCU to three offensive rebounds and force 10 turnovers in the second half.

“I thought that those two gave us the best chance to rebound. We played with those lineups in practice. We just hadn’t played with them much in a game,” Wade said. “Sometimes you need different things. Sometimes you need shooting. You put Jerry [Deng] out there. When you need defense and rebounding, Musa and Ven been give us a great chance.”

Sagnia forward entered the game as one of the more underrated Wolfpack players. He averaged seven rebounds per game in the first three contests, including three on the offensive glass. The freshman from the Gambia also contributed two steals per game.

According to KenPom, Sagnia ranked in the national top 20 in three categories. He ranked No. 6 in the nation for offensive efficiency (173.5), No. 17 in offensive rebounding rate (21.3%) and steal rate (6%), despite playing only 18 minutes per game.

On Monday, Sagnia finished with two points, six rebounds and one steal. Even when he wasn’t adding numbers to his stat line, the rookie provided size, length and toughness when the team needed it most.

“He was big, being able to come out and just bring the energy on both ends of the floor, grabbing offensive and defensive rebounds, getting some stops on defense,” Lubin said. “He’s just an incredible player that can really, really help us. We really value him.”

Pack called for untimely fouls again

N.C. State and UNC-Greensboro were called for a combined 44 fouls on Friday night. The Wolfpack was called for 25 of those, including 15 first-half fouls. UNCG took 41 free throws in its loss.

The fouls didn’t stack up quite as drastically on Monday, but there were still several called quick and early. Lubin picked up his first personal 57 seconds into the game. Officials called a foul on Tre Holloman one minute and 50 seconds after tip.

Darrion Williams received an untimely call less than three minutes into play after hitting his second 3-pointer and putting the Wolfpack up five points.

“I’m not worried about that,” Wade said when asked about his team getting five technicals in four games. “We’ve got to play with an edge. I’d rather tell them, ‘Whoa’ than ‘go.’ We’ll back them off a little bit. But, he made a three tonight, and whatever. I’m not worried about that.”

The number of foul calls slowed down after the early flurry — N.C. State ended the half with seven — but the Wolfpack was on the receiving end of several questionable whistles in the second half, as well. Quadir Copeland picked up his fourth foul with 13:41 remaining in the game. Officials called Copeland for two fouls within the span of 58 seconds.

Paul McNeil picked up his second foul with roughly 10 minutes to go. McNeil’s call was met with outrage from the bench and fans. There was no visible contact on the shooter, and his swat on the ball could be heard throughout the arena.

Turnovers nearly kill Pack

N.C. State doesn’t want to commit more than 12 turnovers in a game. Keeping it to 10 or fewer is even better. That goal wasn’t met on Monday.

The Wolfpack committed 17 turnovers, a season high, against the Rams. Holloman and Copeland, two of the Pack’s most experienced ball handlers, committed the most. Holloman finished with five turnovers, while Copeland accounted for three. Lubin and Williams also committed three turnovers apiece. The team picked up five turnovers in the final five minutes.

“They’re a great team,” Holloman said. “They’re scrappy, they press the ball, but I think that was on us, not be being patient but rushing and trying to press. But, we got them back on defense.”

N.C. State entered the game averaging nine turnovers per contest, or one per 12.2% of its possessions. The Rams defense, and a little bit of sloppiness on the Pack’s part, led to a 24.6% turnover rate against VCU.

In fact, the Pack should be thankful the Rams missed 3-pointers down the stretch, otherwise, it would’ve been on the losing side of the effort.

“We weren’t clean. We didn’t value the ball like we needed to, but we made our free throws, which was enough in this game,” Wade said. “We made our free throws. We got enough stops.”

This story was originally published November 17, 2025 at 9:28 PM.