Virginia Regroups in Overtime, Outlasts NC State for 59-53 Victory
18 days after falling to the Wolfpack by 16 points in Raleigh, the Cavaliers avenged that loss with a gritty, hard-fought win in the rematch in Charlottesville. Earning that redemptive victory was not without drama, though, as UVA saw its 14-point second-half lead disappear with NC State mounting a furious comeback to force overtime.
But the Cavaliers regained their composure in that bonus period, and thanks to a big lift from Taine Murray in overtime, Virginia (14-5, 5-3 ACC) managed to tough out a 59-53 victory over NC State (13-6, 5-3 ACC) on Wednesday night at John Paul Jones Arena.
A big reason why NC State came away with a 16-point win over Virginia in the first meeting was that the Wolfpack were decisively more physical than the Cavaliers, with their guards applying a great amount of pressure on the UVA guards and making it very difficult for Virginia to run its offense and DJ Burns drawing lots of attention on the other end of the floor, leading to openings for NC State's guards offensively. While NC State applied that same defensive pressure in the rematch, the Cavaliers were determined to match the Wolfpack's physicality.
That manifested itself right away, as Virginia collected five offensive rebounds on its first possession of the game, a possession that lasted more than 60 seconds. After NC State jumped out to a 6-3 lead, the Cavaliers held the Wolfpack scoreless for nearly six minutes, allowing Virginia to string together a 7-0 run to grab the lead. The emergence of Jordan Minor indeed proved to be the difference in UVA's efforts to contain DJ Burns, as Minor was able to largely handle that assignment one-on-one, holding Burns to 1/4 shooting in the first half and scoring six points for himself.
"Jordan was so physical with Burns," Tony Bennett said of Minor's defense against DJ Burns. "That was some bodies leaning against each other and going at it hard."
Neither team had much sustained success offensively in the first half, with NC State shooting just 25% from the floor and Virginia not doing much better at 35.3%. But UVA's defense was smothering and the Cavaliers were relentless on the boards, winning the rebounding battle by a staggering 29-12 margin in the first half. NC State made 10 threes in the first matchup between these two teams, but the Wolfpack shot 0/3 from beyond the arc in the first half and were 4/14 from the perimeter for the game.
Virginia held NC State without a field goal for the final 6:34 of the first half, closing on an 11-1 run to take a 27-15 lead into halftime. It was not a good offensive half for the Cavaliers, shooting 35.3% from the floor and 2/11 from three, but their defensive intensity and unyielding efforts on the glass produced a double-digit lead.
After Minor thoroughly won the center matchup with Burns in the first half, Burns came out ultra-aggressive to start the second, scoring three baskets on hook shots in the first few minutes. UVA responded by dissecting the NC State defense for a couple of layups to retain its lead.
NC State endured another five-minute scoring drought, allowing Virginia to build a lead as large as 14 points. But the Wolfpack, who came into the game tied for second place in the ACC standings, refused to quit, scoring seven-straight points behind a three-pointer and an acrobatic layup from former Cavalier Casey Morsell to narrow the deficit to just five.
A three-pointer from Isaac McKneely only temporarily stemmed the tide, as NC State kept coming with another big run, this time scoring nine-straight points. The Wolfpack outscored the Cavaliers 16-3 over a seven-minute stretch late in the second half, recapturing the lead and making it a brand-new ball game with less than five minutes to play.
Reece Beekman delivered a clutch three-point play and McKneely followed that up with a mid-range jumper to reestablish a 47-43 lead for Virginia with a little over two minutes remaining. NC State had a final rally in the tank, though, as DJ Burns hit a high hook shot over Minor to cut it to two and then Michael O'Connell snuck inside for the game-tying putback with eight seconds on the clock. Beekman turned the ball over on Virginia's final possession as Morsell took the ball away from him, sending the game to overtime.
Instead of crumbling after witnessing their late lead dissipate, the Cavaliers pulled themselves together in the overtime period. Providing the necessary spark for UVA was none other than Taine Murray, who had played just six total minutes in the last two games. Murray stayed ready when his number was called and knocked down a three-pointer from the top of the key to give Virginia a six-point lead, secured multiple key defensive rebounds, and went 3/4 from the free throw line in the final minute of the game to secure the win. He also threw the long pass down the floor to assist on Ryan Dunn's emphatic slam dunk to punctuate the win.
"Taine came in and gave us a great lift," Bennett said of Murray. "I was so proud of him and happy for him. He found himself ready."
Virginia had lots of key contributors in this hard-earned victory. Reece Beekman had 11 points, six assists, four rebounds, and three steals and Ryan Dunn filled up the stat-sheet with 13 points, 12 rebounds, and six blocks, padding his lead as the ACC's top shot-blocker. Though limited to just 2/9 from beyond the arc, Isaac McKneely reached double figures with 10 points, as did Jordan Minor, who had 10 points on 5/9 shooting and nine rebounds. But the most clutch performance of the night came from Taine Murray, who had 11 points, six of which came in overtime, and went 2/2 from beyond the arc.
Read Val's Plus/Minus breakdown of the game here.
Virginia won this game with effort and defense, holding NC State to 34.9% shooting and outrebounding the Wolfpack 54-32, including 20 offensive rebounds. That's a far cry from the first matchup, when NC State won the rebounding battle.
Winners of three-straight games, Virginia will head back out on the road to take on Louisville on Saturday at noon on the CW Network.
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