NC State came into Virginia knowing a lot was on the line as both teams were sitting on the bubble of the NCAA Tournament heading into the contest. Despite trailing by as many as 14 points, the Wolfpack clawed their way back to force overtime. The Cavaliers pulled through and held on to beat NC State 59-53.
Ryan Dunn’s double-double of 13 points and 12 rebounds led the way for Virginia as the sophomore guard made his presence felt on both ends of the court. NC State struggled immensely on the boards as the Cavaliers bolster their resume in search of an at-large bid in less than two months.
Takeaway #1: Rebounding wins games, and Virginia proved it tonight
Basketball is all about the rebounds, and Virginia showed exactly why tonight as it won the battle of the glass 54-32. To break it down even further, the Cavaliers claimed 20 of 27 offensive boards and 34 of 59 defensive boards. Jordan Minor added nine rebounds behind Dunn’s 12 while Blake Buchanan pulled in eight. The Wolfpack struggled all game to establish any control in the paint. Mohamed Diarra was the best rebounder for NC State with eight rebounds, but there wasn’t a single player behind him who had more than half of his total.
The Wolfpack were able to force overtime despite this as a result of their strong defense and keeping the Cavaliers in check. Kevin Keatts almost pulled off what would have been an incredible win, but the difference on the glass was just too much especially in overtime. It’s not over for NC State for its postseason aspirations, but a lot of work has to be done. I’d expect the Wolfpack spend a lot of time in the next few practices working on boxing out to avoid a repeat of what other coaches will show their teams not to do in big games.
Takeaway #2: NC State’s defense is extremely underrated
Even without controlling the glass, there are ways to win basketball games; NC State proved that tonight as it recorded 10 steals defensively and found a way to provide extra possessions. The Wolfpack turned those steals and a few self-induced mistakes from Virginia into 15 points, and while Keatts would make the case that his group should have been better in that regard, those 15 points gave his team a chance to pull off an upset.
NC State came into this contest averaging 8.2 steals per game which was ranked fourth in the ACC. After tonight’s stellar display, that number will surely go up and see the Wolfpack leap over the team they just lost to. While every member of the team would prefer the win over having more steals per game, it’s certainly a strong trait to have for NC State moving forward knowing your defense will give you a chance every night it takes the floor.
Takeaway #3: Three-point shooting was hard to come by for both teams
Don’t be fooled by the way the game ended with an uptick in threes between the two sides. It was not a good day to be a three pointer in Charlottesville as NC State and Virginia combined to be 8-31 from behind the arc, just under 26%. Without overtime, those numbers would be much lower as the teams were well below 20% pretty far into the second half.
While this is partially due to both teams playing well defensively, the poor shot selection from both teams can’t be ignored. Isaac McKneely has a rough go-around as he made just two shots from deep, but he kept shooting in hopes that one or two more would eventually go his way. Both teams tonight were quite lucky their counterpart’s three-point shooting was just as abysmal, or the score tonight could have been much different.
Next for NC State: at Syracuse (Jan. 27 – 7 p.m.)
Next for Virginia: at Louisville (Jan. 27 – 12 p.m.)