Uh oh. NC State and Virginia Tech meet again
N.C. State and Virginia Tech are playing basketball again.
If you endured last year’s historic-for-the-wrong-reasons matchup, your reaction might be: do they have to?
Yes, they do. The ACC says so. There’s little reason to believe there will be a repeat of last year’s low-scoring rock fight, a 47-24 Virginia Tech win in Raleigh.
N.C. State (11-4, 2-2 ACC) goes to Blacksburg, Va. on Saturday coming off of a 73-68 home win over Notre Dame and with the ninth-ranked offense in KenPom’s adjusted offensive efficiency.
After missing three games with a concussion, there’s a chance that leading scorer C.J. Bryce could return to the lineup for the Wolfpack on Saturday (2 p.m., Fox Sports Carolinas).
N.C. State has almost every player back from last year’s epic loss to the Hokies. Virginia Tech has almost a completely different lineup and a new coach.
The Hokies (11-4, 2-2) are the surprise of the ACC so far this season under first-year coach Mike Young, who has performed a near miraculous makeover of the roster he inherited from Buzz Williams.
Star guards Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Justin Robinson are long gone for the Hokies. All-ACC forward Kerry Blackshear graduated and landed at Florida, after Williams led the 2019 team to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament and then left for a hefty payday from Texas A&M.
Young, who had a long successful run at Wofford, was hired to replace Williams and has quickly exceeded dirt-low expectations. Wing Landers Nolley, who sat out last season as an academic redshirt, has been a revelation with a team-best 17.1 points per game.
Freshman guards Nahiem Alleyne, Tyrece Radford and Jalen Cone, who was also recruited by the Wolfpack, have taken turns in a supporting role to Nolley. Cone had 19 points in Tuesday’s comeback win at Syracuse.
N.C. State would prefer to talk about this season and Wednesday’s inspiring comeback against Notre Dame, when it erased a 12-point second-half deficit, rather than revisit last year’s disastrous meeting with the Hokies.
Guard Markell Johnson matched his career-high with 27 points in the win over Notre Dame and forward D.J. Funderburk had his best game of the season with 16 points and nine rebounds.
But since it’s the first time these two teams are getting back together, the topic of last year’s game can’t be avoided. The Wolfpack set new records for futility with the fewest points in the shot-clock era (since the 1985-86 season) and the worst field-goal percentage (16.7) in any ACC game. Ever.
“When you look at these numbers, they are mind-boggling,” N.C. State coach Kevin Keatts said after the loss on Feb. 2.
Basically, it was the worst offensive showing by an ACC team that was actually trying to score. The Wolfpack has scored fewer points in an ACC game, and actually it was a win — 12-10 over Duke in the 1968 ACC tournament — but that was before the advent of the shot clock or the 3-point line.
N.C. State shot 19.4 percent and scored 14 points in the first half and then somehow it got worse. Virginia Tech, and its normally-efficient offense, wasn’t much better.
The Wolfpack couldn’t make 2-pointers (7 of 26) and couldn’t make 3s (2 of 28) with notable exception of big man Wyatt Walker’s only made 3 in 18 ACC games last season.
The Hokies had more turnovers (nine) than field goals (eight) in a 20-point first half. Blackshear (13 points, 13 rebounds) found another gear in the second stanza to salt the game away.
Just about the only thing this game has in common with last year’s is it will be a “Quadrant 1” game for N.C. State. The Hokies, with a win outside the league over preseason No. 1 Michigan State, are No. 49 in the most recent NET rankings (N.C. State is No. 51).
NC State at Virginia Tech
When: Saturday, 2 p.m.
Where: Cassell Coliseum, Blacksburg, Va.
Watch: Fox Sports Carolinas
Listen: 101.5-WRAL
NC State (11-4, 2-2 ACC)
G Markell Johnson 13.9 ppg, 6.9 apg
G Braxton Beverly 8.2 ppg, 1.6 apg
G Devon Daniels 11.1 ppg, 4.6 rpg
F Jericole Hellems 10.5 ppg, 3.5 rpg
F Manny Bates 6.0 ppg, 4.4 rpg
Virginia Tech (11-4, 2-2 ACC)
G Wabissa Bede 5.8 ppg, 6.2 apg
G Nahiem Alleyne 9.3 ppg, 2.5 rpg
G Tyrece Radford 7.8 ppg, 5.9 rpg
G Landers Nolley 17.1 ppg, 5.7 rpg
F P.J. Horne 8.5 ppg, 4.5 rpg
