Hot-Shooting NC State Buries Virginia 77-63
There were aspects of Virginia's offensive performance on Saturday that might have suggested that the Cavaliers had won this game handily.
UVA made a season-high ten three-pointers and shot 58.8% from beyond the arc. Virginia outrebounded NC State 28-25 and the UVA bench outscored NC State's bench 16-5.
All of these stat categories have been areas of concern for the Cavaliers this season, so to see them be on the positive side in each was a strong sign of a good offensive performance for Virginia.
Unfortunately for the Wahoos, that all happened in the same game as an overwhelming offensive explosion by their opponents and an uncharacteristically poor performance by the Virginia defense.
NC State shot 60% from the floor and also made a season-high 12 three-pointers on 22 attempts. The Wolfpack used a massive run at the end of the first half to bury the Cavaliers, who could not catch up in the second half and fell 77-63 on Saturday in Raleigh.
For the first 11 minutes of the game, both teams put on a dazzling shooting display. At one point, there were three-pointers hit on six consecutive possessions in the order of: Terquavion Smith, Kihei Clark, Terquavion Smith, Kihei Clark, Jericole Hellems, and Armaan Franklin.
It was quite the unexpected explosion of three-pointers for both teams, who both surpassed their season average for three-pointers per game in the first half alone.
Unfortunately for the Cavaliers, their hot shooting did not last.
After building up a 26-18 lead, NC State continued to make shot after shot, while Virginia's offense slowed down. The Wolfpack went on an overwhelming 25-6 run to end the first half, capped off by a wild step-back three-pointer by Jericole Hellems at the buzzer.
Some of NC State's threes were just like that - heavily contested perimeter shots that Tony Bennett's team were content to give up, but the Wolfpack made them nonetheless. Others were wide open shots produced by Virginia's defensive lapses or turnovers on the offensive end.
Those were the plays that ended up being the difference.
Terquavion Smith made all four of his three-pointers in the first half and led all scorers with 16 points. He finished with 20 points on 8/13 shooting. Jericole Hellems also made all five of his three-pointers in the first half and had 15 points at the intermission. He would end up leading the Wolfpack in scoring with 21 points on 8/12 shooting from the floor.
Jayden Gardner had 11 points and Armaan Franklin had 9 in the first half, but it was not enough to keep up and the Cavaliers went into halftime trailing 43-32.
Virginia hoped that the Wolfpack would cool down at halftime and have their shooting percentage fall back down to Earth. While NC State did not make as many heavily contested shots in the second half, the Wolfpack continued to operate at a high level offensively as the typically sound UVA defense continued to give up open shots and easy layups.
Reece Beekman made a three-pointer on UVA's first possession of the second half to bring the Hoos to within ten, but that would be the closest Virginia would get to NC State on the scoreboard for the rest of the contest.
NC State led by as many as 21 points and led by at least 18 for most of the second half as the Wolfpack cruised to the 77-63 victory over the Cavaliers.
Reece Beekman had another solid performance with 12 points, two three-pointers, three rebounds, and three steals. Armaan Franklin had 14 points to lead UVA and Jayden Gardner chipped in 13 points. Combined with a typically-solid performance from the best defense in the ACC, that level of offensive output would have likely have been enough to lift the Hoos over the Wolfpack on Saturday, but that was not the case.
Dereon Seabron, the ACC's third-leading scorer at 19.0 points per game, had 13 points on 4/6 shooting. Casey Morsell, who transferred to NC State this past offseason after two seasons with the Cavaliers in Charlottesville, had 12 points and seven rebounds against his former team.
Virginia falls to 11-8 and 5-4 in ACC play. UVA has yet to lose back-to-back games this season, but the Cavaliers are facing a tough 48-hour turnaround as they return home to host Louisville on Monday at 7pm.
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