Wahoo Whoa! NC State wins at Virginia for first time since 2005.
It’s tough to out-Virginia Virginia.
Even when the Cavaliers aren’t quite at their national title or ACC-ruling level, they are difficult to beat at their own game and in their own building.
But that’s what N.C. State did on Monday night. Markell Johnson and C.J. Bryce hit big shots late to lift the Wolfpack to a 53-51 road win.
It wasn’t pretty but it rarely is at Virginia’s deliberate pace. N.C. State (14-5, 5-3 ACC) withstood a 10-minute scoring drought to pick up its first road win over the Cavaliers since March 2005 and first win in nine tries at John Paul Jones Arena.
Bryce, who finished with 13 points, expected a rock fight with the Wahoos.
“We did a really good job of keeping our composure and staying patient and it worked out for us,” said Bryce, whose jumper with 27.0 seconds left helped the Wolfpack protect its late lead.
It had been since March 2005 since N.C. State had beaten Virginia on the road. Julius Hodge scored 17 points in that 82-72 win over a completely forgettable Pete Gillen team.
Tony Bennett has built Virginia into a juggernaut in Charlottesville on defense, winning the ACC regular season four times and tournament twice since he was hired in 2009 and the national championship last season.
Virginia (12-6, 4-4) is not the same with the three stars from last year’s team in the NBA. Uncharacteristic ACC losses to Boston College and Syracuse are proof of that but trying to score on the Wahoos, the top scoring defense in the NCAA, is still like going through a meat-grinder.
N.C. State had led 42-31 at 13:51 in the second half and then went 10 minutes and 13 seconds without scoring.
“I didn’t know how long we hadn’t scored but what i talked about was look, ‘If we can’t score, then you’ve got to make sure they don’t score. Don’t let them get away from you,’ “ N.C. State coach Kevin Keatts said.
The Cavaliers went on a 15-0 run to seemingly take control of the game.
N.C. State looked like it was in real trouble when forward D.J. Funderburk (14 points) picked up a technical foul after the referees reviewed an elbow from Virginia forward Francisco Caffaro at 7:14 and then ended up giving both Caffaro and Funderburk matching technicals.
On the next trip down the floor, Funderburk was whistled for his fifth foul.
But N.C. State got a 3-pointer from Jericole Hellems at 3:38 to break the drought and then Johnson’s 3-pointer with 2:44 left gave the Wolfpack a 48-47 lead.
Then Virginia came up empty on its next possession and Hellems made it 50-47 with a putback.
“We were stuck at 42 for the longest time,” Johnson said. “I just tried to do whatever I could to get the lead and then C.J. hit a great shot and took it from there.”
After a Virginia turnover, Bryce came up with his clutch shot to extend the lead to 52-47.
N.C. State struggled to put the game away at the foul line in the final minute. Kihei Clark went 4 for 4 from the line —his last trip there with 8 seconds left was on purpose so Virginia couldn’t attempt 3-pointer — to cut N.C. State’s lead to 52-51.
Devon Daniels made one of two free throws with 7 seconds left and then Casey Morsell missed a contested 3-pointer at the buzzer.
And one
With a seven-man rotation, Johnson had to play a lot. He logged 37 minutes and finished with five assists and no turnovers.
Lane violation
The officiating crew of James Breeding, Michael Stephens and Pat Driscoll mangled the double technical on Funderburk and Caffaro.
It nearly cost N.C. State the game.
ICYMI
With forwards Manny Bates (concussion) and Pat Andree (ankle) sidelined with injuries, forward Danny Dixon played a season-high 14 minutes. Dixon had five rebounds, two points and a steal.
“Danny did a great job coming off the bench and giving us great energy.”
Making sense of the numbers
13-3 Bennett had won 13 of his first 15 games against the Wolfpack and hadn’t lost to them since the 2013 ACC tournament.
1-6 Keatts notched his first win over an ACC team from his home state. He had matching 0-3 records against Virginia and Virginia Tech before Monday’s win.
This story was originally published January 20, 2020 at 9:08 PM.
