The ACC Tourney Plus/Minus: Virginia beats NC State for the Third Time

Plus

A win is a win is a win. Virginia handled NC State easily on their court, got them for the return engagement at the JPJ and thrashed them, and now beat Will Wade’s crew in a tense game in the tournament. This is a whole new level of frustration for the Wolfpack who did a good job on the boards (vs a larger Cavalier team,) and shot an even 50% from deep (11/22.) This game will have NC State thinking, “If only…” and in some ways, that’s a better win for Virginia.

Plus

Three weeks ago, Johan Grunloh recorded eight blocks against NC State. On this day, Grunloh’s rim-protecting partner, Ugonna Onyenso, had eight blocks of his own. He had three in the last six minutes of the game including the game winner: NC State down 74 – 78 with 24 seconds left on the clock, Ven-Allen Lubin drove to the rim. He was looking for contact and the and-1 (he’d been a silky-smooth 8/8 from the line.) Onyenso swatted the shot and State never scored again.

Onyenso also had eight points as both he and Grunloh were very effective getting down the court on the fast break.

Due to early foul trouble on Grunloh, Onyenso played a season-high 30 minutes. What a luxury to have him coming off the bench.

Minus

While most fans and commentators worry about the dreaded it’s-hard-to-beat-a-team-three-times curse, I was more worried about the sluggishness that sometimes comes with sitting out the first two days of the tournament. I was right in this instance. Virginia came out shooting 1/8 and committed five turnovers in the first nine minutes and fell behind early, 11 – 5 and then 22 – 16. State’s Quadir Copeland, who had 24 points and 8 assists vs Pitt a day earlier, was getting into the paint and finding Lubin snaking backdoor three times early. State also did a great job attacking the boards and it took Virginia, the #10 offensive rebounding team in the country, 16 minutes before grabbing their first offensive board.

Plus

Jacari White’s sense of timing. He certainly understands the moment. Five minutes into the first half, NC State had taken that 11 – 5 lead on the back of a Darrion Williams corner three and then a nifty backdoor slam by Lubin. Eight seconds later White canned his first three. It was definitely an “Oh yeah? – Watch this!” kind of moment.

Nine minutes into the second half, and Virginia is starting to pull away, Paul McNeill hit a simply sublime three where he was doubled (tightly) and had the ball knocked out of his hands. He released his shot milli-seconds before the horn sounded to trim Virginia’s lead to 55 – 48. (I really cannot overstate how great a shot it was.) White answered back with this statement three:

There he goes 🤩

📺 ESPN#GoHoos pic.twitter.com/G9tQXn4a21
— Virginia Men's Basketball (@UVAMensHoops) March 12, 2026

And then with the score 63 – 53 and because the Wolfpack refused to go away, Tre Holloway drained a triple. For the third time, White connected from deep, early in the shot clock, to answer for Virgina.

Plus

And sometimes it helps to be lucky. State’s Matt Able responded on his own with a three and the lead was back down to seven points. White tried to answer again, only he badly misfired from the corner and hit the side of the backboard. The ball fell to Thijs De Ridder and he converted for rare – on this night – second-chance points.

Minus

If there is a better three-point shooter in the ACC than White, it is Paul McNeill. He had a game high 26 points on the back of shooting 6/11 from deep. It seemed like Virginia’s prime commitment was stopping Quadir Copeland (and it worked, especially after the first six-seven minutes,) but it was at the expense of concentrating on McNeill. He was able to get his three-point shot off at will.

Plus

Play of the game goes to Malik Thomas. Virginia up by four, 78 – 74 after yes, another McNeill triple. With 14 seconds left, De Ridder is fouled. He missed both free throws. Thomas grabbed the offensive rebound in and amongst the trees. It was pure hustle. He wanted that more than anyone on the court. Then came Onyenso’s block and on the subsequent shot, Thomas grabbed another huge rebound. He was immediately fouled and sank his two free throws to provide the 81 – 74 margin. For the game, Thomas scored 16 points in just 20 minutes.

Minus

De Ridder was second on the team with 15 points, but that was the quietest 15-point game I’ve seen in a while. NC State switches early and often on D, and at least seven times De Ridder had the mis-match as both McNeill and Copeland got switched onto him. And that was just in the first half, before I stopped counting. Not once did he get the ball.

Plus

I almost missed this myself, but Devin Tillis had a Devin Tillis kind of night. He missed his only shot, but he had five rebounds and four assists. In 12 minutes.

Quarterback Tillis 🏈👀

📺 ESPN#GoHoos pic.twitter.com/p9sVHvYam5
— Virginia Men's Basketball (@UVAMensHoops) March 12, 2026

Plus

NC State might have shot 11/22 from deep, but Virginia was almost as good – 12/25 – as six different players made threes. Sam Lewis was 4/5, White was 3/6, De Ridder was 2/5. This team can come at you from a lot of different angels.

Plus

When Onyenso was asked after the game if he thought the team could go all the way to the tournament title, he responded, yeah, “because we play defense.” The ghost of Tony Bennett lives!

On to the next 👉#GoHoos pic.twitter.com/O93VZXIWJr
— Virginia Men's Basketball (@UVAMensHoops) March 12, 2026

Plus

Injuries suck. But the path to the ACC tournament got easier for all teams not named Duke. Starters Caleb Foster and Patrick Ngongba are both out of the tournament. Losing two starters is tough.

Next Up: Virginia plays Miami, who knocked off Louisville in the tourney’s second game. Game time is 7:00pm on Thursday and the game will be on ESPN2.