NC State withstood a furious first half from Pitt, getting just enough stops down the stretch to go on to a 98-88 win in the second round of the 2026 ACC Tournament on Wednesday.
The win puts #7 seed NC State (20-12) into Thursday’s quarterfinals, with a noon ET matchup with #2 seed Virginia (27-4).
Maybe more importantly, the win snaps a four-game losing streak for the Pack, which was an NCAA Tournament lock as recently as a week ago, but had played its way down to the cut line with the recent skid.
Pitt (13-20), the #15 seed, was playing mainly for the fate of coach Jeff Capel, who is 127-127 in eight seasons at Pitt, with one NCAA Tournament appearance and five losing seasons.
I’m expecting Capel to be the fourth ACC coach to get a pink slip this week – joining Damon Stoudamire (Georgia Tech), Earl Grant (Boston College) and Adrian Autry (Syracuse).
State led 51-50 after a wild first half in which the Pack was 7-of-9 from three, and Pitt was 9-of-16.
NC State began the second half on a 12-2 run to extend its lead to 63-52 before Pitt made its first field goal at the 16:31 mark.
Matt Able made the Wolfpack’s 11th three-pointer — in just 15 attempts — for a 76-62 lead with 12:56 to go.
Pitt would get the deficit down to five on a pair of Roman Siulepa free throws with 5:29 to go, but State held the Panthers to 2-of-7 shooting in the final five minutes.
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Chris Graham
