Road Warriors: NC State takes down No. 15 Virginia, 68-61
Pack wins its fourth consecutive road game as it snaps UVA’s 15-game home winning streak
from www.gopack.com:
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The NC State men’s basketball won its fourth consecutive road game as it took down 15th-ranked Virginia, 68-61, inside of John Paul Jones Arena Wednesday night.
With the win, NC State improves to 11-9, 7-8 in the ACC, while Virginia falls to 15-6, 11-4 in the ACC.
The Pack jumped out to a 17-4 lead and extended to a 24-10 lead before the Cavaliers went on a 13-5 run to cut NC State’s lead to 29-23 at the break.
The Cavs kept coming in the second half as Sam Hauser connected on two three-pointers in the first two minutes to tie the game at 29. Virginia would go on to take its one and only lead, 35-33, on two Jay Huff free throws with 14:31 remaining in the game.
But NC State responded with the next eight points to take a 41-35 lead with 11:16 remaining on a Shakeel Moore lay-up and Virginia would never get closer than four points the rest of the game.
Virginia would make one final push, cutting a 51-41 NC State lead to 57-53 on two Huff free throws with 11:11 to go, but the Pack would hit 11-of-12 free throws down the stretch to prevent UVA from completing the comeback.
Freshman guard Cam Hayes(Greensboro Day School) led the Pack with 16 points hitting three three-pointers, including a 25-foot desperation three to beat the shot-clock buzzer that banked in to give NC State a 57-49 lead with 3:06 to play. Hayes would finish 7-of-8 from the foul stripe, including a perfect 6-of-6 in the final 43 seconds.
D.J. Funderburk added 14 points and six rebounds while freshman guard Shakeel Moore(Piedmont Classical School) recorded 12 points and four rebounds. Jericole Hellems just missed out on a double-double with eight points and eight rebounds.
Sam Hauser led Virginia in scoring, scoring 19 of his 21 points in the second half while Huff had a double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds. He also had a game-high five blocked shots. Kihei Clark also reached double figures with 11 points.
NC State returns to action on Sunday to host Pitt inside of PNC Arena. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m. and will be televised on the ACC Network.