Can NC State beat UVa and hold on to its position in the ACC? What Will Wade says
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- N.C. State needs wins in final four games to secure ACC double-bye potential.
- Virginia’s size, physicality and offensive rebounding challenge Wolfpack defense.
- Wade urges consistent defensive focus after mixed results and recent losses.
N.C. State sat at No. 4 in the ACC men’s basketball standings Monday morning, positioned to potentially earn a double-bye in the conference tournament two weeks from now.
Four regular-season games remain, and the Wolfpack has to face league-leading Duke and second-place Virginia — and several teams are hot on N.C. State’s heels for the fourth spot.
Winning out would be the best-case scenario for the Wolfpack, and would limit its reliance on the outcomes of other games, but that is a big ask. Winning three of its last four games, which includes Notre Dame (Feb. 28) and Stanford (March 7), however, could still provide a favorable outcome.
N.C. State's first test comes on Tuesday, when it opens the final stretch of the regular season with a road trip to Charlottesville, the second meeting between the two schools this season. Aside from Wake Forest, Virginia is N.C. State’s second home-and-home opponent this year.
“Virginia is playing great, got great personnel,” Wolfpack coach Will Wade said Monday. “They’re huge. They’re kind of the opposite of we are. Their physicality poses a lot of issues for us. It’ll be a monumental task tomorrow, and hopefully we can play better, get off to a better start than we got off to in the first game.”
NC State’s first game against Virginia this season
UVA beat N.C. State, 76-61, on Jan. 3 in the Wolfpack’s second conference game this year. Virginia jumped out to a 6-0 lead to open the game, and that lead ballooned to 20 at halftime. It didn’t get any better for N.C. State in the second half, when Virginia led by as many as 27 points with 6 ½ minutes to play.
The Wolfpack shot 36% from the field and 25% from 3, while allowing the Hoos to finish 50% overall and 39.4% from long range. Additionally, the Cavaliers won the rebounding battle 36-24, with nine on the offensive glass.
N.C. State used a 14-2 run down the stretch to cut into its deficit, but the margin was too great for a comeback.
Can the Wolfpack beat the Cavaliers this go-around?
N.C. State hopes to upset No. 11 Virginia and split the series this season.
One new roadblock: senior guard Jacari White. The Cavaliers have added White back into their lineup since the first matchup. He sustained a broken wrist in December, missing the teams’ first game, and returned to play in mid-January.
Wade called White “instant offense” and another player the Pack has to account for in their game Tuesday. White is averaging 8.6 points in 22 games, including a 17-point outing against Miami.
“It’s going to be tough sledding. They’re the best defensive team in the league, and we can’t let our offense affect our defense,” Wade said on Monday during the weekly ACC coaches call. “Any chance we have, we’re going to have to be better defensively, and get a few more stops than we’ve been getting.”
N.C. State’s defense has allowed at least 75 points in five of its last nine games and has given up at least 80 in two games.
The Wolfpack, however, has made strides as a team, especially on offensive, since that first meeting with Virginia in early January. Senior forward Darrion Williams and senior guard Quadir Copeland have become the primary ball handlers, limiting confusion and establishing an on-court chain of command.
The team has made progress defensively, but it still struggles to play with the necessary focus and intensity on a consistent basis. Its losses to Georgia Tech and Miami can be attributed to poor defensive execution and mistakes down the stretch.
Wade hopes to see proof of his squad’s growth against Virginia, but there’s uncertainty until the ball is tipped.
“Everything’s in theory until we see if we can do it tomorrow,” Wade said. “We have to match or exceed their physicality. I’m very worried about that. They’re extremely physical. They’re one of the best offensive rebounding teams in the conference. They were No. 1 going into the Miami game on offensive rebounding, and defensive rebounding is certainly an area that we’ve struggled.”
NCSU and the Wahoos in ACC play
The Wolfpack is 19-8 overall record and 10-4 in the ACC. The Cavaliers are 24-3, and have won their last eight games, including seven in the ACC. N.C. State’s longest win streak this season is six games in the conference.
Wade thinks his team’s record should be better. He’s unhappy with the losses to Virginia and Louisville but admits those two programs played better.
He would like to have the Georgia Tech and Miami losses back, though. The Wolfpack was in position to beat Georgia Tech on Jan. 17 and Miami on Feb. 14, both at home. Instead, the Wolfpack squandered an eight-point second-half lead against the Yellow Jackets and blew a seven-point lead to the Hurricanes with 1:07 remaining.
Wade hopes to avoid both outcomes — blown leads or blowouts — this week by picking up a win and Virginia to maintain a favorable position in the ACC.
“Virginia is a great team. They’re in second place in the league, and so this is more about just us preparing to play a great team,” Wade said on Monday. “When you go on the road and you play really good teams — Louisville is a great team — sometimes different things can happen. All we can control is our preparation. Hopefully we’ll be prepared tomorrow when we get up there.”
This story was originally published February 23, 2026 at 3:28 PM with the headline "Can NC State beat UVa and hold on to its position in the ACC? What Will Wade says."
