A pair of high-profile, first-year coaches will lead programs that participated in the last two Final Fours when North Carolina State visits No. 20 Auburn on Wednesday night in the ACC/SEC Challenge.
The Wolfpack lost in the Final Four two seasons ago, and Auburn fell in the event last season.
This season, the Wolfpack (5-2) will look to rebound from a 1-2 showing at last week’s Maui Invitational. The losses, to Seton Hall and Texas, were their first under coach Will Wade, a familiar face for Auburn teams.
Wade headed up the Tigers’ Southeastern Conference counterpart LSU from 2017 through 2022, then led McNeese to back-to-back NCAA Tournaments in 2024 and 2025. The Cowboys advanced to the second round in last year’s tournament with a roster that included current North Carolina State guard Quadir Copeland, who is coming off a 28-point game in a 102-97 loss to Texas on Wednesday.
Copeland (13.6) is among five Wolfpack scorers averaging in double figures. He joins Darrion Williams (18.7), Paul McNeil Jr. (14.3), Ven-Allen Lubin (12.1) and Tre Holloman (11.1).
The five have combined to power one of the most prolific scoring offenses in the nation at an average of 93.6 points per game. The Wolfpack have knocked down 11.3 3-pointers per game at a 42.2% clip.
North Carolina State struggled defensively vs. the Longhorns in its finale at the Maui Invitational, surrendering 29-of-52 shooting from the floor — including 16 of 32 from 3-point distance.
The Wolfpack also sent Texas to the free-throw line for 33 attempts, 28 of which the Longhorns made. North Carolina State has been among the most foul-plagued teams in college basketball this season, giving up an average of 19.1 points per game at the free-throw line.
“We’ve got to do better defensively, whether that’s communicating, flying around, being more aggressive, putting pressure on the ball or giving a team (only) one shot at the rim,” Lubin said. “We can learn from this when we head back and continue to develop.”
The Wolfpack now draw an opponent in Auburn that has been tested with an early-season gauntlet — including last week’s three-game set in Las Vegas at the Players Era men’s tournament.
The Tigers (6-2) bookended a lopsided loss to tournament champion Michigan on Nov. 25 with wins over Oregon and then-No. 14-ranked St. John’s. Tahaad Pettiford scored a career-high 27 points to lead Auburn in its 85-74 defeat of the Red Storm on Wednesday, improving his season average to 15.1 points per game.
“Just having teammates and coaches that have my back, even if I’m not hitting shots, they just tell me to keep going,” Pettiford said in an interview with TNT Sports.
The coaching staff to which Pettiford referred is led by Steven Pearl, who replaced his father, Bruce, in September. Bruce Pearl announced his retirement after a tenure that included two Final Four trips with Auburn, in 2019 and 2025.
The Tigers faced noteworthy roster turnover in the offseason, not the least of which was the coaching change, losing double-double-averaging big man Johni Broome and wing Chad Baker-Mazara.
However, UCF transfer Keyshawn Hall has emerged as a leading playmaker. His 20.9 points per game lead the Tigers scoring to an 88.5-point-per-game pace through the first eight games.
