NC State Crushes No. 16 UNC 82-58, Largest Margin in 64 Years

NC State dismantled No. 16 North Carolina 82-58 at the Lenovo Center in Raleigh, handing the Tar Heels their most lopsided loss to the Wolfpack in 64 years and giving Will Wade’s team a critical resume win as it moves toward the NCAA tournament. The victory put NC State at 19-8 overall and 10-4 in ACC play while dropping UNC to 20-6 and 8-5, records reported in game recaps.

The Wolfpack built a 42-26 halftime edge after shooting 53.1 percent in the first half, then closed the game by outscoring UNC 40-32 in the second half to the 24-point final margin. ESPN’s box score shows NC State finished 31-of-64 (48%) from the field, 9-of-20 (45%) from three and 15-of-21 (71%) from the line, with only four turnovers and 40 rebounds. UNC managed just 19-of-60 shooting (31.7%), 5-of-33 (15%) from distance, 11-of-16 at the line and committed 12 turnovers while hauling in 38 rebounds.

Quadir Copeland led NC State with 20 points, six rebounds and seven assists, and Pack Insider’s box noted he had zero turnovers. Freshman Matt Able added 19 points and was 5-of-7 from three, a performance Pack Insider highlighted as evidence his emergence is expanding the Wolfpack offense. Darrion Williams scored 13 points but suffered a first-half facial injury that required stitches after he hit his face on the court, with trainers using multiple towels to stem the bleeding, the AP reported.

Injury absences deepened the mismatch for UNC. Caleb Wilson sat out with a fractured hand and Henri Veesaar was unavailable with a lower-body injury; AP noted the two accounted for more than 40 percent of North Carolina’s points and rebounds before the game. With that frontcourt duo sidelined, UNC leaned on the perimeter and missed 17 of its first 18 three-point attempts, a cold stretch that never let the Tar Heels back into the contest.

Local reaction ran hot on social media. Pack Insider’s coverage called it a rout, "NC State didn’t just beat rival #16 UNC on Tuesday night. They buried them", and its Facebook post drew broad engagement, with the excerpt showing 537 reactions, 19 comments and 18 shares. Pack Insider also reported the win bumped NC State to No. 25 in the NET rankings.

NC State now travels to No. 14 Virginia next Tuesday, a game Pack Insider and AP framed as pivotal for ACC positioning and tiebreaker math; North Carolina heads to Syracuse on Saturday looking for answers and healthier rotations. Officials for the Raleigh game were Pat Driscoll, Brian O'Connell and Michael Greenstein.