NC State basketball falls at Virginia, undone by lack of rebounding against Cavaliers
N.C. State coach Kevin Keatts didn’t need a long look at the final stat sheet Wednesday to spot the one huge difference in the game.
The Wolfpack had just been beaten 59-53 in overtime by Virginia at John Paul Jones Arena. Neither team shot better than 37% from the field. Neither had much success on 3-pointers. Neither had a player go off for 20 or more points. Neither shot many free throws.
Then, there was the rebounding. Oh, man. That’s what grabbed Keatts’ attention.
The Cavaliers had 54 rebounds and the Wolfpack 32. Virginia finished with 20 offensive boards to the Pack’s seven.
“We had our chances but it’s going to be hard to win games if we don’t rebound better,” Keatts said.
The Cavs’ first possession of the game went like this:
Isaac McKneely had a shot block but Virginia got the offensive rebound, McKeely missed a 3 but Virginia’s Reece Beekman rebounded. Beekman missed a layup but rebounded it, and Beekman had a shot blocked but Virginia again kept the ball. Andrew Rohde missed a 3 but Virginia’s Jordan Minor rebounded.
After Minor missed a shot, the Pack’s D.J. Burns finally snatched the ball for a defensive rebound.
The Cavs did not score on the possession but the tone was set. Virginia would attack the offensive glass for 45 minutes, often offsetting some poor shooting with second-effort plays and second chances.
To start the overtime, Minor missed a shot, grabbed the rebound and got a second-chance basket. Virginia (14-5, 5-3 ACC) never lost the lead in the OT.
Rebounding in basketball is about proper positioning and good anticipation but also as much about determination and want-to. And when there’s a 54-32 disparity? That says a lot about the team with the 54 rebounds.
“And 20 offensive rebounds is just way too many against anybody in this league,” the Pack’s Casey Morsell said.
Until last weekend, Virginia has not played well on the road. But the Cavaliers went to Georgia Tech and notched an ACC road win, then carried those positive vibes and momentum into their game at home, where they now have won 21 straight.
The Wolfpack (13-6, 5-3), which had won its first three ACC road games, looked out of sorts offensively in the first half in falling behind 27-15. Virginia’s defense can do that, and did.
“I didn’t think we brought enough toughness in the first half,” Keatts said. “The result of that is 54-to-32 rebounding. I thought they really did beat us to 50/50 balls.”
Virginia had a 35-21 lead, its largest of the game, in the second half before the Wolfpack finally started stacking productive possessions, putting in the work on defense, putting together a 16-3 run to get back in it.
“Two different halves,” Keatts said. “The second half we came out and we had great energy. We got going.”
The Pack twice took the lead — on Michael O’Connell’s jumper with 4:27 left in the second half, then a driving layup by the transfer guard that had the Pack in front 43-42 with 3:28 remaining.
The Wolfpack, trailing 47-45 with 27 seconds left in regulation, called timeout and had a decision to make: take a 3 for the win or look for an inside basket. The ball went inside to Burns. He missed the shot, but had O’Connell dart to score on the putback with eight seconds left.
Morsell then almost staged what would have been a surreal, storybook ending. The former Virginia guard stole the ball from Beekman and got off a last-gasp heave from 50 feet that hit the back of the rim as time expired.
“What a helluva game,” Keatts said. “If you didn’t see the first half you’d be like, ‘Man that was a great game the entire time.’
“But this team has a lot of fight, a lot of grit. It was a good ACC road fight and this team will build from it.”
This story was originally published January 25, 2024 at 5:00 AM.
