CLEMSON — Pure relief was what NC State head coach Will Wade felt following the Wolfpack’s 80-76 overtime win over No. 18 Clemson Tuesday at Littlejohn Coliseum.
Tuesday was Wade’s first trip back to Clemson since his days as a student manager and coach nearly 20 years ago. Wade graduated from Clemson in 2005 and started his coaching career here as a graduate assistant in 2005-06 and later served as the director of operations in 2006-07 for then head coach Oliver Purnell.
“This was a big day for NC State. This had nothing to do with me,” said Wade after the game. “We needed to find a way to win a game like this, so this was big for us.”
Here is what Wade had to say about his first trip back to Tigertown and his team’s much-needed victory on Tuesday night.
Question: I know you said you were not looking at this from a nostalgic standpoint, but have you had any moments being back (in Clemson)?
Wade: “Yeah, I went to lunch at Mac’s Drive-In today, so that was good. I got to see Pat. I have not seen him in a long time, so I went to lunch and took our equipment manager, Chaz, our voice and Ben from our video crew. So, it was good to taste that food, again. That was really the only thing. They have done a phenomenal job with the arena. I got daggum courts tilted and this was the tunnel, I was all turned around. Driving through campus, the facilities – it is a different world than when I was here. They have really invested in the facilities. There is stuff everywhere.”
Question: What is the feeling after finding a way to win in a place like this?
Wade: “It’s a little bit of a relief. I didn’t know if we had it in us or not if I’m being truthful. It was good to see us have that in us, play with some poise, and execute in a tough environment. It was good for us to do that.”
Question: How significant was Ven-Allen Lubin and his play bouncing back from earlier this week?
Wade: “Ven was tremendous. He is just so rock solid for us. He’s the one guy who’s really reliable and dependable night in and night out. He’s just so efficient, 9 of 12 from the field. So, Vin’s been just so rock solid for us all season.”
Question: How important was it to have a balanced scoring attack?
Wade: “We needed everybody to step up. Darrion (Williams) made plays, Q (Quadir Copeland) made plays, Paul (McNeil) made some great plays. Ven obviously made some great plays. I thought Matt Able really grew up tonight. I thought he was really steady in a tough environment. I thought we had a lot of guys step up and make plays for us.”
Question: Clemson’s top 15 in the county in turnovers (committed) per game. You guys were able to force nine turnovers in the first half. How important was that in being able to create momentum early on?
Wade: “It’s important because they bludgeoned us on the glass. You don’t have to be a great rebounding team and we’re not, but you have to make up for it in other ways. The turnover margin is a big portion. It’s not that we were able to turn them over. We also only turned it over seven times. It’s a possession game, and he who gets the most shots usually wins. They got one more shot than we did, but that was a lot to do with the free throws. So, I think that the turnover differential evened out the offensive rebounding differential.”
Question: This team is now 3-0 on the road in ACC play. What does that say about the identity of this group?
Wade: “We aren’t worth a (darn) at home. It’s a good thing that we’re pretty good on the road because we are awful at home. I don’t know if it says anything. It says we’re very inconsistent and that we’re searching for some consistency. Hopefully, we’ll find some consistency from this game.”
Weather permitting, NC State will hit the road on Saturday for its matchup versus Pittsburgh. Following the Tigers’ three-game home stretch, they will travel to Atlanta to take on the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at noon on the ACCN.