After a slow start to its first season with Will Wade as head coach, NC State basketball is starting to find its stride as the calendar flips to February. On Tuesday night, the Wolfpack got another very impressive road win to add to their resume, beating SMU 84-83 in Dallas to improve to 17-6 on the season.
NC State trailed for much of the first half and into the second, but a 26-6 run during the second half catapulted Wade’s club into the lead. SMU nearly made a comeback, but Boopie Miller’s game-winning shot was blocked and the Wolfpack escaped with the win.
Point guard Quadir Copeland, who transferred to NC State from McNeese with Wade, was the catalyst for NC State’s second-half success in this game. Copeland didn’t make a big impact scoring, but he consistently set his teammates up for easy buckets and finished with 16 assists and no turnovers. He is the first college basketball player to have that many assists without giving the ball away since Grayson Murphy of Belmont back in 2019, per Noah Fleischman of On3 Sports…