Overall: 22-9, .710 W-L% (39th of 293)
Conference: 10-4, 1st in ACC (Schedule and Results)
Coach: Jim Valvano (22-9)
PS/G: 84.5 (32nd of 293) ▪ PA/G: 74.0 (112th of 293)
SRS: 17.66 (14th of 293) ▪ SOS: 7.15 (42nd of 293)
NCAA Tournament: (#5 seed in East)
Won East First Round (81-66) versus #12 South Carolina
Won East Second Round (102-96) versus #4 Iowa
Lost East Regional Semifinal (69-61) versus #1 Georgetown
| Pre | 11/22 | 11/29 | 12/6 | 12/13 | 12/20 | 12/27 | 1/3 | 1/10 | 1/17 | 1/24 | 1/31 | 2/7 | 2/14 | 2/21 | 2/28 | 3/7 | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18 | 18 | 16 | 19 | 18 | 17 | 18 | 16 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 13 | 17 | 19 | 17 | 20 | 17 | 19 |
| G | Date | Type | Opponent | Conf | Tm | Opp | OT | W | L | Streak | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sat, Nov 26, 1988 | REG | Columbia | Ivy | W | 110 | 54 | 1 | 0 | W 1 | ||
| 2 | Mon, Nov 28, 1988 | REG | Akron | Ind | W | 87 | 67 | 2 | 0 | W 2 | ||
| 3 | Sat, Dec 3, 1988 | REG | @ | Southern Methodist | SWC | L | 57 | 59 | 2 | 1 | L 1 | |
| 4 | Tue, Dec 20, 1988 | REG | Alabama State | SWAC | W | 109 | 81 | 3 | 1 | W 1 | ||
| 5 | Thu, Dec 22, 1988 | REG | Coppin State | MEAC | W | 100 | 67 | 4 | 1 | W 2 | ||
| 6 | Tue, Dec 27, 1988 | REG | Monmouth | NEC | W | 95 | 50 | 5 | 1 | W 3 | ||
| 7 | Fri, Dec 30, 1988 | REG | Virginia Military Institute | Southern | W | 105 | 79 | 6 | 1 | W 4 | ||
| 8 | Mon, Jan 2, 1989 | REG | Towson | ECC | W | 83 | 77 | 7 | 1 | W 5 | ||
| 9 | Thu, Jan 5, 1989 | REG | @ | Clemson | ACC | W | 73 | 65 | 8 | 1 | W 6 | |
| 10 | Sat, Jan 7, 1989 | REG | Temple | A-10 | W | 71 | 59 | 9 | 1 | W 7 | ||
| 11 | Thu, Jan 12, 1989 | REG | Coastal Carolina | Big South | W | 97 | 69 | 10 | 1 | W 8 | ||
| 12 | Sat, Jan 14, 1989 | REG | Georgia Tech | ACC | W | 82 | 68 | 11 | 1 | W 9 | ||
| 13 | Wed, Jan 18, 1989 | REG | Wake Forest | ACC | W | 82 | 64 | 12 | 1 | W 10 | ||
| 14 | Sat, Jan 21, 1989 | REG | @ | North Carolina | ACC | L | 81 | 84 | 12 | 2 | L 1 | |
| 15 | Thu, Jan 26, 1989 | REG | Duke | ACC | W | 88 | 73 | 13 | 2 | W 1 | ||
| 16 | Sun, Jan 29, 1989 | REG | @ | Maryland | ACC | W | 90 | 67 | 14 | 2 | W 2 | |
| 17 | Wed, Feb 1, 1989 | REG | @ | Virginia | ACC | L | 71 | 91 | 14 | 3 | L 1 | |
| 18 | Sat, Feb 4, 1989 | REG | @ | DePaul | Ind | L | 74 | 81 | 14 | 4 | L 2 | |
| 19 | Thu, Feb 9, 1989 | REG | North Carolina | ACC | W | 98 | 88 | 15 | 4 | W 1 | ||
| 20 | Sun, Feb 12, 1989 | REG | Nevada-Las Vegas | Big West | L | 80 | 89 | 15 | 5 | L 1 | ||
| 21 | Wed, Feb 15, 1989 | REG | Clemson | ACC | W | 90 | 75 | 16 | 5 | W 1 | ||
| 22 | Sat, Feb 18, 1989 | REG | @ | Georgia Tech | ACC | W | 71 | 69 | 17 | 5 | W 2 | |
| 23 | Mon, Feb 20, 1989 | REG | North Carolina-Asheville | Big South | W | 90 | 75 | 18 | 5 | W 3 | ||
| 24 | Thu, Feb 23, 1989 | REG | @ | Duke | ACC | L | 65 | 86 | 18 | 6 | L 1 | |
| 25 | Sun, Feb 26, 1989 | REG | Virginia | ACC | L | 75 | 76 | 18 | 7 | L 2 | ||
| 26 | Thu, Mar 2, 1989 | REG | Maryland | ACC | W | 94 | 77 | 19 | 7 | W 1 | ||
| 27 | Sat, Mar 4, 1989 | REG | @ | Wake Forest | ACC | W | 110 | 103 | 20 | 7 | W 2 | |
| G | Date | Type | Opponent | Conf | Tm | Opp | OT | W | L | Streak | ||
| 28 | Fri, Mar 10, 1989 | CTOURN | N | Maryland | ACC | L | 49 | 71 | 20 | 8 | L 1 | |
| G | Date | Type | Opponent | Conf | Tm | Opp | OT | W | L | Streak | ||
| 29 | Fri, Mar 17, 1989 | NCAA | N | South Carolina | Metro | W | 81 | 66 | 21 | 8 | W 1 | |
| 30 | Sun, Mar 19, 1989 | NCAA | N | Iowa | Big Ten | W | 102 | 96 | OT | 22 | 8 | W 2 |
| 31 | Fri, Mar 24, 1989 | NCAA | N | Georgetown | Big East | L | 61 | 69 | 22 | 9 | L 1 |