The Virginia men’s basketball team failed to extend its conference winning streak to three Saturday, falling to N.C. State 72-67 in Raleigh.
Cavalier coach Dave Leitao attributed the loss to Virginia’s lack of enthusiasm — something with which the team has struggled all season — and the strength of N.C. State.
“We got back to digging ourself into holes, specifically in the first half [for] some of the same reasons ... [we] thought we got rid of, in terms of energy and attention to detail,” Leitao said.
The Wolfpack started the game on a 15-2 run, and with 9:59 left in the first half, the N.C. State lead opened up to 21-4. When Virginia finally appeared to wake up and closed the deficit to 33-29 at the break, the Cavaliers lost focus in the opening minutes of the second half. Following a 17-4 Wolfpack run, Virginia again found itself down by 17 with 13:24 left.
“We didn’t come out with the same enthusiasm that we had been playing with over the past couple of weeks,” junior guard Calvin Baker said. “We have to know that success takes hard work, you have to be ready every day and playing in this league you can’t take days off and I feel like that’s what we did.”
Baker said even before the game, he saw signs that the team might not have been ready to play at the level it needed to win.
“I could tell during warm-ups before the game started,” Baker said. “I tried to bring everybody in and tell them that we had to get some more life and energy in us before we went back out there and we tried, but we didn’t try hard enough.”
In addition to a lack of enthusiasm, Leitao noted that the entire Wolfpack proved capable of stepping up and performing well at any point in the game — another main reason for Virginia’s loss, he said.
“They have so many guys they can go to offensively,” Leitao said. “Any one of 11 guys — all of them are pretty skilled — can put you in a little bit of a quandary.”
Leitao’s point was verified by big performances from N.C. State forwards Dennis Horner and C.J. Williams, both of whom started the game on the bench. While Horner came into the game averaging only 6 points per game, the junior managed to contribute 12 points to his team’s offensive effort Saturday, including hitting three critical three-pointers.
Although Williams played only 17 minutes, he made those minutes count. The freshman tallied 16 points, including the game’s last three-pointer, which put the Wolfpack ahead by 10 with 2:13 left. The Cavaliers, however, responded immediately, as freshman guard Sylven Landesberg found an open Baker for a three-pointer to cut the lead to seven. Following a Virginia timeout, Baker converted an N.C. State turnover into an easy layup on the other end, and a put-in by senior guard Mamadi Diane suddenly left the Wolfpack ahead by just three points with 48 seconds to play. A swarming Cavalier defense silenced the N.C. State offense on the ensuing possession, and two free throws by Landesberg with less than ten seconds remaining gave Virginia sudden hope of pulling out the victory. N.C. State senior guard Courtney Fells, though, nailed two free throws, and a crucial miss on the front end of a one-and-one by Landesberg handed the Wolfpack the win.
“We knew this was a winnable game,” said Landesberg, who scored a team-high 16 points. “We had momentum coming into this game, and we could have pulled it out.”
The Cavaliers’ lack of defense during the game also could also have contributed to N.C. State’s win.
“If you’re handling your business with energy, it would be easier for you to rotate and help each other out,” Baker said. “We were just a step behind all game [defensively].”
Diane’s increased playing time came as a surprise for Virginia fans. Diane, who had not seen time in the team’s previous four contests — his last appearance was Feb. 4 against Boston College — entered the game for the first time with 12:20 remaining in the first half. Although he did not make a statistical contribution during the first period, Diane’s presence did not go unnoticed in the second. He notched 11 points in the last 10 minutes — including a clutch jump shot with 0:48 that cut the Wolfpack lead to three and marked the first time the senior has scored in double digits since he dropped 13 against South Florida in the second game of the season.
“With my senior year not going as planned, I could see how it would probably be easier for some guys to falter or fade away,” Diane said. “But it has been the opposite for me. I’ve been working harder than ever.”
Coming off its loss to the Wolfpack, Virginia must regroup for Thursday’s showdown against Miami — another team on the NCAA Tournament bubble — at John Paul Jones Arena.
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