When the Cavaliers (10-7, 4-3 ACC) take the floor tonight against No. 18 N.C. State (16-4, 5-2 ACC) at the RBC Center in Raleigh, they may feel that they are seeing a familiar sight.
Coach Herb Sendek's Wolfpack run the Princeton-style offense that Virginia has already beaten twice this season in defeats of Richmond and Northwestern. According to Virginia coach Dave Leitao, however, the Cavaliers would be foolish to think that N.C. State is anything like the Spiders and the Wildcats.
"N.C. State runs a much more advanced version" than Richmond and Northwestern, Leitao said. "They spread the floor in a quasi-Princeton style game but they don't milk the clock at all. They push the ball, but then they're patient enough to get good shots and they play off of each other extremely well. Any one of their five guys can post you up and pass out of it."
N.C. State's roster features a plethora of talented upperclassmen. Cameron Bennerman leads the Wolfpack with 12.9 points per game while Ilian Evtimov, who averages 11.4 ppg, is the clear emotional leader of the team. Fellow senior Tony Bethel contributes a solid 9.2 ppg. This many seasoned players allows Sendek to confidently run his complex offensive scheme.
N.C. State "is a very dangerous team that has a ton of experience," Leitao said. "They run their system extremely well. They are probably the smartest team in our league in terms of execution."
One of N.C. State's strongest attributes is how well it handles the basketball. The Wolfpack will have a clear advantage over Virginia in this area, as N.C. State's 1.21 assist-to-turnover ratio is second in the conference, while Virginia's 0.76 mark is last. Virginia point guard Sean Singletary turned the ball over six times in a disappointing showing at Duke on Saturday.
"If I am upset then I am sure Sean is 10 times more upset about him not playing up to his capabilities," Leitao said. "The only way he knows to combat that is to come back the next day. I am sure he will be as focused and determined to play well as he has ever been."
An area where Virginia will have an advantage is offensive rebounding. N.C. State's offensive system keeps as many as four players out on the perimeter, making offensive rebounding difficult. The Wolfpack is 11th in the ACC in offensive rebounding while Virginia's junior forward Jason Cain leads the ACC with 3.59 offensive rebounds per game.
Last Wednesday, N.C. State was shocked at home by Seton Hall, losing 83-65. The Wolfpack's conference losses have come on the road at North Carolina and Duke. Sunday, N.C. State emerged with a draining 94-85 double-overtime win at Clemson. The energy used up by the Wolfpack in that contest could have an effect on tonight's game.
"We're just trying to recover from a hard-fought overtime game yesterday," Sendek said during Monday's ACC teleconference. "We were fortunate to come away with a win. You have to make sure that you refresh yourself and get ready to go again."
For Virginia, Leitao expects to see improvement tonight over Saturday's performance.
"We're going to have to bounce back real quickly, go back on the road and try to do a better job, especially on the defensive end," Leitao said. "And on offense, we need to get better shots than we did the other night."
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