Gameday Live Blog/Open Thread: State at Virginia
It's never good to go into a game shorthanded, especially when your team is already shorthanded when everyone available is present and accounted for.
But it's especially disadvantageous when, as is the case with the NC State basketball team, you just played a game two days earlier.
That's the predicament facing the Wolfpack tonight. On the road, playing the defending national champion Virginia Cavaliers, coach Kevin Keatts' team will have only seven available players with both redshirt freshman big man Manny Bates and graduate forward Pat Andree sidelined with injuries.
The good news, such that it is, is that UVA is thin as well -- having played only seven men in its game Saturday, a win at Georgia Tech.
FIRST HALF
Funderburk, Hellems, Daniels, Bryce and Johnson to start for the Wolfpack. ...
So far, so good. Funderburk scores from close range to get things started, then two steals lead to easy baskets -- something that don't happen often against the Cavaliers' pack-line defense. If State can keep that up, there will be ice cream tonight ...
First TV timeout: State 8, UVA 8
Keatts only have two subs available, but he's making sure to run guys in and out. First, Beverly came in for Daniels. Now, a couple of possessions later, Daniels is back in and Bryce comes out.
And now here comes Danny Dixon. With Bates out, he's going to have to play major minutes and contribute something. Right off the inbound play, he gets a pass that leads top a layup, but can't finish at the rim. Not a good start ...
Under 12 TV timeout: State 11, UVA 10
State doing an outstanding job thus far getting the ball inside against a defense designed to prevent that. Need to keep doing that instead of falling in love with the 3-point shot like it did at Virginia Tech, when it went 6 of 30 from beyond the arc. ...
Two games ago, each team had a guy named Beverly -- State's Braxton Beverly and Miami's Harold Beverly. Tonight, both teams have a Braxton -- State's Braxton Beverly and UVA's Braxton Key ...
Under 8 TV timeout: State 20, UVA 19
Funderburk continuing his stellar play of late ... He's got 10 of the Wolfpack's 24 points thus far. It is not too early to start talking about him in terms of All-ACC consideration ...
The Wolfpack has missed its first five 3-point attempts. State 9 of 21 overall from the floor and getting outrebounded 15-8 ...
Under 4 TV timeout: State 24, UVA 24
State gets a break on the final possession of the half. With the shot clock down to 1, Bryce fires up a desperation 3, but Daniels chases down the rebound. It still doesn't result in points as Beverly misses a another 3.
Wolfpack 0 for 7 from beyond the arc. And yet, after 20 minutes, it still leads by two ...
Halftime: State 28, UVA 26
Red Panda a halftime! That's a good omen for the Wolfpack. It's 2-0 this season when she's performed at its games -- at Wake Forest and at home against Notre Dame ...
SECOND HALF
After going 0 for the first half beyond the arc, Bryce and Daniels go back-to-back on 3-pointers ...
Wolfpack off to a solid start here in the second half, outscoring UVA 10-5 to open up its biggest lead of the night at seven points ...
Under 16 TV timeout: Wolfpack 38, Cavaliers 31
Hellems gets away with a foul underneath, allowing State to get out on the break. Bryce finishes with a 3 from the right corner. Wolfpack has held UVA scoreless for the last 4:05 and has run off eight unanswered points. Tony Bennett want's timeout. State up 42-31 with 13:45 left ...
The UVA scoring drought is up to 6:23. Problem is, State hasn't scored either in the last 2:24.
So at the under 12 TV timeout, it's still Wolfpack 42, Cavaliers 32
Two straight Cavalier baskets and the crowd is back into it ...
State has only committed eight fouls tonight. Saturday against Clemson, it had eight on it before the escond TV timeout of the second half ...
And now a shot clock violation by the Wolfpack. Momentum starting to turn here ...
Part of the problem has been that Dixon is in the game. A couple of times, a State player has looked to make an entry pass into post only to realize who was down there and thought better of it. Funderburk is in there now, too, but he just picked up his third foul and Virginia has now scored the last six to get back to within 42-37 ...
Another shot clock situation. This time Johnson has to heave up a 3 and it misses. The Wolfpack is now 0 for its last 6 and is scoreless over the last 6:22 ...
Under 8 TV timeout: State 42, UVA 37
The scoreboard has frozen and has not registered UVA's last basket -- giving it an 8-0 to answer the one by the Wolfpack earlier this half. They're at the scorer's table trying to work on the problem. It's 42-39 ...
If nothing else, this break while the scoreboard is fixed helps slow UVA's momentum a bit ...
Not sure what just happened, but they just called a double foul ... and the one on the Wolfpack is charged to Funderburk. That's his fourth with 7:09 still left. Danger zone here ...
And now Funderburk just fouled out on a very minor bit of contact 30 feet from the basket. There's 6:48 left. State is up by 3, but is in SERIOUS trouble here ...
And now the lights have gone out ...
It's now an 11-0 UVA run and the Cavaliers now lead 44-42 with State's best player having fouled out. ..
As seems to be happening too often around the country these days, this one has been taken over by the men in stripes ... tonight that's Mike Stephens, James Breeding and Pat Driscoll ...
Also, State has been stuck on 42 points for the last 8 1/2 minutes ...
It's now a 13-0 UVA run ... Cavaliers up by 4
Markell Johnson to the line with a chance to break the 9:38 scoring drought ... But he misses the front end of the 1 and 1 ...
Hellems finally ends the drought at 10:14 with a 3-pointer from the top of the circle … cuts the deficit to 46-45 with 3:14 left ... But then he picks up his fourth foul. There's a good chance we're going to see a Max Farthing sighting before this one is over ....
Under 4 TV timeout: UVA 46, State 45
Johnson with a 3 over Kihei Clark and somehow, State is back in the lead
Hellems with a putback of a Bryce miss and the Wolfpack is up 50-47 with just over a minute left ...
Bryce got away with a foul underneath on UVA's Francisco Caffaro and they're reviewing the shot clock to see if the ball hit the rim. It didn't. Cavaliers have 1 second to get a shot off here ...
Diakite doesn't get it off in time. State still up 3 with possession. 56.3 seconds left ...
Now they're reviewing again. This time to see if the shot really was after the buzzer. Problem is, if he did, who gets the ball? The whistle blew and guys stopped going after the rebound. Shot clock is pointing the Cavalier's way ...
Wolfpack ball ...
CJ Bryce … ONIONS … He hits in the lane at the shot clock buzzer to put State up 52-47 with 27 seconds left … And unbelievably, they're heading for the exits here at JPJ ...
Incredible ... Up by 5 with 27 seconds left and Bryce commits a foul BEFORE THE BALL IS INBOUNDED ... Clark makes both and it's now a 1-possession game with no time coming off the clock. Senior leader CAN NOT do that ...
Johnson misses the front end of 1 and 1 ... but 7-footer Jay Huff help State by firing up a 3 with plenty of time left ... misses. State still up 3 with 13.3 left ...
And now Bryce misses the front end ...
Keatts has Clark fouled with 8.2 left and he makes both. ...
Now it's Daniels' turn to try and ice this one ...
Daniels makes the first and UVA calls timeout to ice him. With 7.2 seconds left, even if he makes the second, UVA will be able to tie with a three ...
Bet the folks that left early are feeling kind of silly right now
Misses the second one ... and Casey Morsell misses from 3 for the win ....
As hard as the Wolfpack tried not to, it comes away with a HUGE road win under incredibly difficult circumstances (some self-inflicted) ... Ice cream tonight ... Make it two scoops ...
Final: State 53, UVA 51
