CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Quadir Copeland had 24 points and eight assists, Ven-Allen Lubin added 18 points and No. 7 seed NC State beat 15th-seeded Pitt 98-88 on Wednesday in the second round of the 2026 T. Rowe Price ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament. 

NC State (20-12) advances to play No. 2 seed and 10th-ranked Virginia in the quarterfinals on Thursday. 

NC State led 51-50 at halftime as both teams shot over 60 percent from the field and had three players in double-figure scoring. The Wolfpack went 7-of-9 from 3-point range, while 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 3-pointer — in just 15 attempts — for a 76-62 lead. 

The officials upgraded to a flagrant-1 foul with 2:13 remaining after Lubin was pushed from behind on an alley-oop attempt. Lubin made both free throws to give NC State a 92-83 lead. Paul McNeil Jr. made it a four-point possession for an 11-point lead on an easy layup. 

McNeil finished with 15 points, Tre Holloman had 14, and Darrion Williams and Able each scored 12 for NC State. 

Cameron Corhen scored a career-high 27 points for Pitt(13-20). Nojus Indrusaitis added a season-high 19 points and Omari Witherspoon also scored 19. 

Pitt reached its season average for made 3-pointers in a game with 8:40 left in the first half when Indrusaitis made his third straight and the Panthers’ eighth in 12 attempts for a 34-25 lead. 

The Panthers finished 12-of-27 behind the arc, while the Wolfpack went 13-of-23. 

Of Note  

• NC State’s 98 points rank third among all second-round games in ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament history. The Wolfpack trail only the 101 points scored by North Carolina in 2021 and the 99 points scored by Virginia Tech in 2017. 

• Both Pitt and NC State reached the 50-point threshold in the first half, becoming the first team(s) to do so in an ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament game since 2023, when NC State recorded 53 points against Virginia Tech in the second round. 

• The last time both teams scored 50 or more points in the first half of an ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament game was in the second round of the 2016 tournament – Duke (50) vs. NC State (53). 

• The 186 points scored by the Wolfpack and Panthers are the most scored in regulation in an ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament game since 2017. 

• NC State became the ninth team in ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament history to have six players score in double figures in the same game and the first since Duke in the 2015 quarterfinals. 

• NC State had three players connect on three or more 3-pointers, led by Darrion Williams with four. 

• NC State and Pitt combined to make 25 3-pointers on Wednesday, matching the ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament record for most 3-point field goals made by two teams. It is the fourth time two teams have made 25 triples and the first since the 2013 semifinals between Miami and North Carolina. 

• NC State’s 13 made 3-point field goals are tied for the second-most in an ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament second-round game, trailing only Syracuse in 2021.