No. 14 Virginia streaks into clash with NC State
No. 14 Virginia is seeking its longest winning streak since the 2018-19 national championship season when it hosts NC State in Atlantic Coast Conference action Tuesday night in Charlottesville, Va.
The Cavaliers (24-3, 12-2 ACC) have won eight in a row, matching their best run since a nine-game streak from Feb. 11 to March 14, 2019.
Virginia sits in second place in the ACC, one game behind Duke, and is 13-1 at home. The Wolfpack (19-8, 10-4) are tied for third in the league and looking to avoid a letdown coming off their biggest win of the season.
In a Saturday thriller that featured 12 lead changes and 14 ties, the Cavaliers kept their streak alive with an 86-83 win at home against Miami. Chance Mallory drew a foul behind the arc with 3.6 seconds left and knocked down all three free throws. Thijs De Ridder stole a pass before the Hurricanes could get off a tying shot attempt.
Virginia trailed by 11 in the first half and 44-39 at intermission before rallying to beat the Hurricanes for the ninth time in the last 10 meetings.
"The key for us was, in the second half, digging in more," Cavaliers coach Ryan Odom said. "They are a very well-coached team. They are an attacking and downhill team. They offensive rebound like we do, and they get to the free-throw line. It was just a matter of whether we were going to be able to stand up to that in the second half."
Virginia's biggest strengths this season include offensive rebounding, 3-point shooting and balanced scoring. Two out of three were enough to beat Miami, as the Cavaliers managed only two second-chance points but drained 12 of 24 3-pointers and had six players score in double figures.
De Ridder leads Virginia in scoring (15.9) and rebounding (6.4). Jacari White, who scored a team-high 17 against the Hurricanes, is shooting 45.3% from 3-point range.
Sam Lewis scored a season-high 23 points in the first meeting with NC State, leading the Cavaliers to a 76-61 victory on Jan. 3 in Raleigh, N.C.
Quadir Copeland's 15 points led the Wolfpack, who trailed 40-20 at halftime and shot just 36% from the field against Virginia.
NC State has been idle since snapping a two-game skid with a lopsided 82-58 rivalry win against No. 16 North Carolina on Feb. 17. Copeland scored 20 points and the Wolfpack limited the visiting Tar Heels to 31.7% shooting, including just 15.2% from 3-point range (5 of 33).
It was NC State's largest margin of victory against North Carolina since an 85-57 win on Feb. 14, 1962.
"We've got to close strong. I talked to our guys this week about sprinting through the finish line," Wolfpack coach Will Wade said after the win. "We don't want to just kind of putter across the finish line. We want to sprint through the finish line. And I thought tonight was a good step."
Darrion Williams (14.2 points per game), Copeland (14.0), Ven-Allen Lubin (13.6) and Paul McNeil Jr. (13.4) lead the balanced Wolfpack attack. Matt Able (8.9) has averaged 18.0 points in his last two games.
Looking ahead to the ACC tournament, both of these teams are currently in contention to receive one of the four double-byes and automatic advancement to the quarterfinals.