North Carolina State University Athletics
Tuesday, March 17
Dayton, OH
9:15 PM
NC State
vs
Texas
Pack Heads to Dayton For NCAA Tournament Tilt Against Texas
3/16/2026 11:28:00 AM | Men's Basketball
TruTV | Live Stats
NC State Game Notes | Texas Game Notes
RALEIGH, N.C. - The NC State men's basketball team (20-13) will head to Dayton for a First Four NCAA Tournament game against Texas on Tuesday night.
Tipoff in UD Arena is scheduled for 9:15 p.m. and the game will be televised on TruTV. NC State fans can also listen to Matt Chazanow and Chucky Brown call the action on the Wolfpack Sports Network.
Pack Notes
- NC State fell to second-seed and 10th-ranked Virginia, 81-74, in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament last Thursday.
- Paul McNeil, Jr., led NC State with 26 points against the Cavaliers, knocking down six three-pointers to tie for the second-most in program history in an ACC Tournament game. During the contest, he also made his 100th three-pointer of the season, becoming just the fourth player in program history to reach 100 in a single season. McNeil now has 102 three-pointers this season and is just four away from setting the program's single-season record.
- Ven-Allen Lubin recorded a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds against Virginia. Despite shooting just 3-of-9 from the field against UVA, Lubin still leads the ACC and ranks third in the NCAA in field goal percentage at 67.6 percent. The game marked just the third time in 33 contests this season that Lubin has shot under 50 percent. His current mark is on pace to shatter NC State's single-season field goal percentage record and currently ranks as the third-best single-season percentage in ACC history, trailing only UNC's Brendan Haywood (69.7% in 1999-2000) and Duke's Zion Williamson (68.0% in 2018-19).
- Balanced Scoring Attack: NC State enters the NCAA Tournament with its top three scorers separated by just one point on the season. Paul McNeil, Jr., leads the team with 459 points, while Quadir Copeland and Ven-Allen Lubin are tied for second with 458 points each. Darrion Williams ranks fourth with 440 points (played one less game than the top three scorers). For the season, McNeil, Copeland and Lubin are all averaging 13.9 points per game, while Williams averages 13.8. The Pack is tracking to be the first NC State team since the 1990-91 squad to have four players finish a season averaging over 13 points per game. Each player has led or tied for the team lead in scoring at least eight times this season (Copeland – 11; Lubin, McNeil and Williams – 8).
- Quadir Copeland was named All-ACC Third Team last Monday. The Philadelphia, Pa., native is saving his best for last, posting career highs in points (13.9), assists (6.6), steals (1.7) and field goal percentage (49.7%). He leads the ACC in assists, ranks sixth in steals and seventh in assist-to-turnover ratio. Copeland is also just the third ACC player in the last 30 seasons to record 200+ assists and 400+ points in a single regular season, joining Notre Dame's Jerian Grant (2014-15) and Maryland's Greivis Vasquez (2007-08). His 219 assists this season are the eighth-most in all of Division I and currently ranks as the ninth-most in a single-season in program history.
Tuesday Storylines
- This is NC State's 30th NCAA appearance and its third in the last four seasons. This is the second time in program history it has played in the First Four in Dayton. In 2014, NC State was a 12-seed and faced fellow 12-seed Xavier in Dayton. The Pack prevailed 74-59 to advance.
- In his 12th season as a head coach, this season marks Wade's eighth NCAA Tournament appearance. (Wade would likely have nine appearances in 12 seasons, as his 2019–20 LSU team finished 21–10 and was projected as an eight seed in most brackets before the tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.) Wade has now led VCU, LSU, McNeese and NC State to NCAA Tournament berths, and a win on Tuesday would give him at least one NCAA Tournament victory with every program he has taken to the tournament.
- NC State added six players through the transfer portal last summer that played in the 2025 NCAA Tournament. All six of those players (Houston's Terrance Arceneaux, McNeese's Alyn Breed and Quadir Copeland, Michigan State's Tre Holloman, UNC's Ven-Allen Lubin and Texas Tech's Darrion Williams) were on team's that won at least one game in the NCAA Tournament last season. Arceneaux's Houston team was National Runner-Up while Williams (Texas Tech) and Holloman (Michigan State) were both on teams that advanced to the Elite 8. Overall, NC State's 2025-26 roster has combined to play 549 minutes in NCAA Tournament games in their career.
- NC State's Terrance Arceneaux and Houston's Tramon Mark were teammates at Houston in the 2022-23 season when Mark was a junior and Arceneaux was a freshman.
- Keep the Longhorns off the line: NC State committed a season-high 27 fouls in the first meeting against Texas, leading to 28 made free throws by the Longhorns — the most by an NC State opponent this season. Texas outscored the Pack by eight points at the foul line in its five-point win.
- NC State leads the ACC and ranks 15th in the NCAA in turnover margin (+3.5), is second in the ACC in turnovers forced (12.8 per game) and leads the conference in steals (8.1 per game), but when the Pack faced Texas in November, it forced just seven turnovers, tied with Duke for the fewest by an NC State opponent this season, and recorded a season-low three steals in the loss.
- The Pack leads the ACC in three-point percentage on the season (38.8%) and ranks 12th in the NCAA. NC State is 14-3 this season if it shoots 37.5 percent or better from three-point range, but just 6-10 when it shoots under 37.5 percent from long range. The Pack shot 24-of-45 (53.3%) in two neutral site games in the ACC Tournament last week. In the earlier game this season against Texas, NC State attempted a season-low 19 three-pointers.
- The Pack was held to a season-low 16 paint points against Virginia last Thursday. In the first game against Texas, NC State had 46 paint points (tied for second-most in a game this season) and outscored the Longhorns 46-20 in paint points (biggest differential for NC State against a power conference opponent).
- NC State was held to zero fast break points on Thursday against Virginia, as it was outscored 15-0 in fast break points. In the first game against Texas, the Longhorns had a 24-7 advantage in fast break points over NC State. The 24 fast break points tie for the most allowed by the Pack this season and the -17 point differential is a season-worst for NC State. The Pack is 13-4 this season when it has the same or more fast break points than its opponent, but is just 7-9 when its opponent has more transition points.
- NC State has scored 100 or more points in four games this season. It's the most 100 point games in a single season for NC State since the 1995-96 team had four. For the season, NC State averages 83.7 points per game which is third in the ACC and 27th in the NCAA. The Pack is currently on pace to average its most points since Fire & Ice (Chris Corchiani and Rodney Monroe) led the Pack to an average of 89.3 points per game in the 1990-91 season.
- NC State leads the ACC and ranks 16th in the NCAA with a 1.69 assist-to-turnover ratio. The 1.69 assist-to-turnover ratio is on pace to set the single season school record which is currently 1.61 set by the 1987-88 team.
- Win the Boards, win the game? The Pack is 12-0 when it outrebounds its opponent this season, but just 8-13 when it is outrebounded. NC State enters the game against Texas having been outrebounded in 11 consecutive games and last won the rebounding battle in the win over Wake Forest on Jan. 31.
NC State series with Texas
- Tuesday will be the seventh all-time meeting between NC State and Texas. Texas leads the all-time series, 4-2, and has won the last two meetings, including a 102-97 win over the Pack earlier this season in the Maui Invitational.
- A game in Dayton, Ohio adds to the list of neutral site locations these teams have met. In seven meetings, they've only once met on one of the program's home floors (last season in Raleigh). Previous meetings have been played in New York City (1978), Anchorage, Alaska (1986), Dallas (2005 NCAA Tournament), East Rutherford, N.J. (2011) and Lahaina, Hawaii (2025).
Earlier Meeting with the Longhorns
- Texas hit 16 three-pointers - shooting 50 percent from long range - to beat the Pack, 102-97, in the fifth place game of the Maui Invitational on Nov. 26.
- At the time, the 16 three-pointers tied for the most ever allowed by NC State, but Louisville reset the record when it hit 18 last month in a victory for the Pack.
Texas led by as many as 15 points in the first half, but the Pack battled back to take a one-point lead with 7:51 to play. Texas responded with a 10-0 run to retake the lead and NC State never got closer than five the rest of the way.
- Quadir Copeland had a career-high 28 points in the loss, shooting 10-of-14 in the game.
- Ven-Allen Lubin added 23 points, setting his career-high for field goals made (10) while attempting a season-high 14 shots. He added nine rebounds, including six offensive rebounds.
- Paul McNeil, Jr., added 20 points for the Pack as it marked the first time in over 20 years that NC State had three players all score 20 or more points in the same game.
NC State Game Notes | Texas Game Notes
RALEIGH, N.C. - The NC State men's basketball team (20-13) will head to Dayton for a First Four NCAA Tournament game against Texas on Tuesday night.
Tipoff in UD Arena is scheduled for 9:15 p.m. and the game will be televised on TruTV. NC State fans can also listen to Matt Chazanow and Chucky Brown call the action on the Wolfpack Sports Network.
Pack Notes
- NC State fell to second-seed and 10th-ranked Virginia, 81-74, in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament last Thursday.
- Paul McNeil, Jr., led NC State with 26 points against the Cavaliers, knocking down six three-pointers to tie for the second-most in program history in an ACC Tournament game. During the contest, he also made his 100th three-pointer of the season, becoming just the fourth player in program history to reach 100 in a single season. McNeil now has 102 three-pointers this season and is just four away from setting the program's single-season record.
- Ven-Allen Lubin recorded a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds against Virginia. Despite shooting just 3-of-9 from the field against UVA, Lubin still leads the ACC and ranks third in the NCAA in field goal percentage at 67.6 percent. The game marked just the third time in 33 contests this season that Lubin has shot under 50 percent. His current mark is on pace to shatter NC State's single-season field goal percentage record and currently ranks as the third-best single-season percentage in ACC history, trailing only UNC's Brendan Haywood (69.7% in 1999-2000) and Duke's Zion Williamson (68.0% in 2018-19).
- Balanced Scoring Attack: NC State enters the NCAA Tournament with its top three scorers separated by just one point on the season. Paul McNeil, Jr., leads the team with 459 points, while Quadir Copeland and Ven-Allen Lubin are tied for second with 458 points each. Darrion Williams ranks fourth with 440 points (played one less game than the top three scorers). For the season, McNeil, Copeland and Lubin are all averaging 13.9 points per game, while Williams averages 13.8. The Pack is tracking to be the first NC State team since the 1990-91 squad to have four players finish a season averaging over 13 points per game. Each player has led or tied for the team lead in scoring at least eight times this season (Copeland – 11; Lubin, McNeil and Williams – 8).
- Quadir Copeland was named All-ACC Third Team last Monday. The Philadelphia, Pa., native is saving his best for last, posting career highs in points (13.9), assists (6.6), steals (1.7) and field goal percentage (49.7%). He leads the ACC in assists, ranks sixth in steals and seventh in assist-to-turnover ratio. Copeland is also just the third ACC player in the last 30 seasons to record 200+ assists and 400+ points in a single regular season, joining Notre Dame's Jerian Grant (2014-15) and Maryland's Greivis Vasquez (2007-08). His 219 assists this season are the eighth-most in all of Division I and currently ranks as the ninth-most in a single-season in program history.
Tuesday Storylines
- This is NC State's 30th NCAA appearance and its third in the last four seasons. This is the second time in program history it has played in the First Four in Dayton. In 2014, NC State was a 12-seed and faced fellow 12-seed Xavier in Dayton. The Pack prevailed 74-59 to advance.
- In his 12th season as a head coach, this season marks Wade's eighth NCAA Tournament appearance. (Wade would likely have nine appearances in 12 seasons, as his 2019–20 LSU team finished 21–10 and was projected as an eight seed in most brackets before the tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.) Wade has now led VCU, LSU, McNeese and NC State to NCAA Tournament berths, and a win on Tuesday would give him at least one NCAA Tournament victory with every program he has taken to the tournament.
- NC State added six players through the transfer portal last summer that played in the 2025 NCAA Tournament. All six of those players (Houston's Terrance Arceneaux, McNeese's Alyn Breed and Quadir Copeland, Michigan State's Tre Holloman, UNC's Ven-Allen Lubin and Texas Tech's Darrion Williams) were on team's that won at least one game in the NCAA Tournament last season. Arceneaux's Houston team was National Runner-Up while Williams (Texas Tech) and Holloman (Michigan State) were both on teams that advanced to the Elite 8. Overall, NC State's 2025-26 roster has combined to play 549 minutes in NCAA Tournament games in their career.
- NC State's Terrance Arceneaux and Houston's Tramon Mark were teammates at Houston in the 2022-23 season when Mark was a junior and Arceneaux was a freshman.
- Keep the Longhorns off the line: NC State committed a season-high 27 fouls in the first meeting against Texas, leading to 28 made free throws by the Longhorns — the most by an NC State opponent this season. Texas outscored the Pack by eight points at the foul line in its five-point win.
- NC State leads the ACC and ranks 15th in the NCAA in turnover margin (+3.5), is second in the ACC in turnovers forced (12.8 per game) and leads the conference in steals (8.1 per game), but when the Pack faced Texas in November, it forced just seven turnovers, tied with Duke for the fewest by an NC State opponent this season, and recorded a season-low three steals in the loss.
- The Pack leads the ACC in three-point percentage on the season (38.8%) and ranks 12th in the NCAA. NC State is 14-3 this season if it shoots 37.5 percent or better from three-point range, but just 6-10 when it shoots under 37.5 percent from long range. The Pack shot 24-of-45 (53.3%) in two neutral site games in the ACC Tournament last week. In the earlier game this season against Texas, NC State attempted a season-low 19 three-pointers.
- The Pack was held to a season-low 16 paint points against Virginia last Thursday. In the first game against Texas, NC State had 46 paint points (tied for second-most in a game this season) and outscored the Longhorns 46-20 in paint points (biggest differential for NC State against a power conference opponent).
- NC State was held to zero fast break points on Thursday against Virginia, as it was outscored 15-0 in fast break points. In the first game against Texas, the Longhorns had a 24-7 advantage in fast break points over NC State. The 24 fast break points tie for the most allowed by the Pack this season and the -17 point differential is a season-worst for NC State. The Pack is 13-4 this season when it has the same or more fast break points than its opponent, but is just 7-9 when its opponent has more transition points.
- NC State has scored 100 or more points in four games this season. It's the most 100 point games in a single season for NC State since the 1995-96 team had four. For the season, NC State averages 83.7 points per game which is third in the ACC and 27th in the NCAA. The Pack is currently on pace to average its most points since Fire & Ice (Chris Corchiani and Rodney Monroe) led the Pack to an average of 89.3 points per game in the 1990-91 season.
- NC State leads the ACC and ranks 16th in the NCAA with a 1.69 assist-to-turnover ratio. The 1.69 assist-to-turnover ratio is on pace to set the single season school record which is currently 1.61 set by the 1987-88 team.
- Win the Boards, win the game? The Pack is 12-0 when it outrebounds its opponent this season, but just 8-13 when it is outrebounded. NC State enters the game against Texas having been outrebounded in 11 consecutive games and last won the rebounding battle in the win over Wake Forest on Jan. 31.
NC State series with Texas
- Tuesday will be the seventh all-time meeting between NC State and Texas. Texas leads the all-time series, 4-2, and has won the last two meetings, including a 102-97 win over the Pack earlier this season in the Maui Invitational.
- A game in Dayton, Ohio adds to the list of neutral site locations these teams have met. In seven meetings, they've only once met on one of the program's home floors (last season in Raleigh). Previous meetings have been played in New York City (1978), Anchorage, Alaska (1986), Dallas (2005 NCAA Tournament), East Rutherford, N.J. (2011) and Lahaina, Hawaii (2025).
Earlier Meeting with the Longhorns
- Texas hit 16 three-pointers - shooting 50 percent from long range - to beat the Pack, 102-97, in the fifth place game of the Maui Invitational on Nov. 26.
- At the time, the 16 three-pointers tied for the most ever allowed by NC State, but Louisville reset the record when it hit 18 last month in a victory for the Pack.
Texas led by as many as 15 points in the first half, but the Pack battled back to take a one-point lead with 7:51 to play. Texas responded with a 10-0 run to retake the lead and NC State never got closer than five the rest of the way.
- Quadir Copeland had a career-high 28 points in the loss, shooting 10-of-14 in the game.
- Ven-Allen Lubin added 23 points, setting his career-high for field goals made (10) while attempting a season-high 14 shots. He added nine rebounds, including six offensive rebounds.
- Paul McNeil, Jr., added 20 points for the Pack as it marked the first time in over 20 years that NC State had three players all score 20 or more points in the same game.
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