North Carolina State redshirt junior guard Trevor Lacey sank a go-ahead 3-pointer with 9:20 to play Wednesday night at John Paul Jones Arena, answering Virginia junior guard Justin Anderson’s long-range jay from the minute before.
Lacey’s bomb—his third of the night—put the Wolfpack up 42-41 for their third lead of the second half and fourth of the game.
The No. 3 Cavaliers responded with a game-changing 10-0 run over the next six minutes 18 seconds. When freshman forward Caleb Martin ended NC State’s scoring drought on a 3-pointer with 3:02 remaining, Virginia junior forward Anthony Gill put the game on ice with a pair of tip-ins.
“I was really happy with our performance at the end of the second half because we laid it down defensively,” said senior forward Darion Atkins, who finished with eight rebounds and a block.
Gill and Anderson converted a combined six free throws in the final minute, and Virginia (14-0, 2-0 ACC) posted a 61-51 win to extend the program’s best start since 1980-81, when the Cavaliers—led by three-time Naismith College Player of the Year Ralph Sampson—won their first 23 games.
“I complement our guys, because I thought our defense took a step in the right direction tonight,” coach Tony Bennett said. “We bothered and contested shots, but offensively, we didn’t exploit some of the mismatches we had. We lacked the ability to rotate the ball and wear them down. We were a little trigger happy tonight and we need to understand we have to play both ends.”
NC State (11-5, 2-1 ACC) shot a scorching 58.3 percent from long range in the first half, knocking down its first four 3-pointers to seize an early 14-6 lead. Senior guard Ralston Turner—the Wolfpack’s second-leading scorer on the year—came out particularly sizzling, scoring 14 first-half points on just five shots.
But Virginia quickly worked its way into the game, turning its eight-point deficit into a five-point lead at 21-16 on junior guard Malcolm Brogdon’s jump shot eight minutes 29 seconds before the break. Brogdon scored six points in Virginia’s 15-2 run, also setting up two Cavalier baskets on an assist and a blocked breakaway layup that Anderson chased down for an uncontested two-handed jam.
Virginia pushed its lead to nine points on Anderson’s 3-pointer with 3:40 left in the half, but Turner brought NC State back with three makes from beyond the arc, the last 31 seconds before the horn. Gill fouled sophomore guard Anthony ‘Cat’ Barber on his last-second 3-pointer, and the Newport News native knocked in his second and third free throws to cut Virginia’s lead to a point.
The Cavaliers scored the first five points of the second half before Wolfpack sophomore forward Kyle Washington’s personal 6-0 run gave NC State a 37-36 edge with 14:46 remaining. After a scoreless 10 minutes Saturday in the Wolfpack’s 68-50 win against Pittsburgh, Washington delivered with 13 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.
“He was really looking to score,” NC State coach Mark Gottfried said. “I don’t know if there was anything natural about it, but he did a nice job. He made a couple jumpers early, he missed a couple foul shots here and there, but he did really well.”
Junior center Mike Tobey put Virginia back in the lead with two free throws, but reserve freshman forward Cody Martin—Caleb’s twin—laid the ball in to put the Wolfpack in front with 11:24 to play. That basket set up Anderson and Lacey’s 3-pointers and Virginia’s subsequent run.
Virginia held NC State to 37.7 percent shooting for the game while hitting a pedestrian 41.1 percent of its own shots. The Cavaliers outshot the Wolfpack at the foul line, hitting nine of 10 to NC State’s two of nine.
Turner cooled from the field in a scoreless second half, when Brogdon guarded the smooth-shooting Alabaman, whom Anderson said “can shoot the lights out.”
“I just tried to contest his shots,” Brogdon said. “He’s one of the best shooters in college basketball, and I think just having your hands there and active in front of him can make all of the difference.”
Though Virginia limited the ACC’s fourth-leading scorer in Lacey to nine points on 3-11 shooting, Bennett said the Cavaliers must improve defensively.
Virginia’s Saturday opponent, No. 13 Notre Dame, is shooting the ball at a 54.8 percent clip, best in the country.
“I told the team it is about percentages—and if you can bother and contend and win the majority of the percentages,” Bennett said. “I do not think they will be perfect, but can you win the majority and outlast [the opposition] as the game goes on? We have to have that mentality. We aren’t going to dominate and we need to win the majority.”
Tip-off at Joyce Center in Notre Dame, Indiana is set for 6 p.m.
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