Not this time: ‘Hoos blow another lead, but recover to beat N.C. State

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No. 14 Virginia 64, N.C. State 57

At Virginia Tech, Virginia led by 10 with 15:28 left. The Hokies took their first lead of the second half at 49-47 with 7:08 remaining.

The story was eerily similar at N.C. State on Wednesday night. No. 14 UVa led by 9 with 16:34 left. The Wolfpack took their first lead of the second half at 44-43 with 6:53 remaining.

But this time, the Wahoos stemmed the tide, finishing the game on a 21-13 run to win in Raleigh.

“The message [was] I talked about trying not to yield,” coach Tony Bennett said. “I thought we yielded a bit too much and at key times against Virginia Tech, and I didn’t sense that tonight.”

A Mona Lisa it was not, but a win is a win, and it feels a lot better than a loss. Especially this season, when we don’t know when or if games will be played.

But the issues were plentiful in this matchup.

The Cavaliers (12-3, 8-1 ACC), despite shooting 53% in the first half, only went into the break up 28-24. They gave up seven turnovers and seven offensive rebounds in the first 20 minutes. They were able to get those problems somewhat under control in the second half, with four turnovers and four offensive boards allowed in that frame. Still, the Pack (7-7, 3-6) outrebounded the ‘Hoos, 31-24.

Virginia endured long scoring droughts in each half to give up leads. In the first, Sam Hauser made a 3-pointer at the 10:25 mark to make the score 19-13. By the time Jay Huff hit a 3 at 3:53, it tied the game at 22.

In the second half, Kihei Clark made two free throws to make it 43-34 with 12:28 remaining. By the time Hauser made a pair of freebies at 6:37, UVa recaptured the lead, 45-44. Virginia went more than eight minutes between field goals in the second half. The ‘Hoos did not shoot as well in the second 20 minutes and finished with a 19-for-41 effort (46.3%), including 6 of 17 from beyond the arc. Four of those triples came in the first half.

Luckily for UVa fans, but much to the chagrin of Wolfpack faithful — who always seem to think the officials hate them (and really, who can blame them when you are the ugly stepchild and live so close to ACC darlings North Carolina and Duke) — Virginia gave a sterling 20-for-22 performance at the line. At Virginia Tech, UVa made just 3 of 4. State went 7 of 12 at the charity stripe, and shot 23 of 53 overall from the field (43.4%), and 4 for 14 on 3-pointers.

“Virginia Tech was really good at jamming the lane, physical, and taking away the lane,” Bennett said. “[N.C. State] pressures trying to get turnovers, but sometimes the lane was a touch more open, so you had to make some hard drives and the right decisions off of [them]."

UVa got zilch, nada, from its bench. Casey Morsell had two bad turnovers and missed three shots in 12 minutes. Tomas Woldetensae missed his lone shot right near the basket, and Justin McKoy and Francisco Caffaro grabbed one rebound between them in seven combined minutes.

Things went downhill in the first half when Tony Bennett used a lineup that included Morsell, Caffaro, and Woldetensae, a major reason for that scoring drought. With the starters back in, UVa finished on a 9-2 run.

Hauser and Trey Murphy III (right) led the way with 18 points and five rebounds apiece. Hauser went 5 for 11 and 2 for 6 from deep, while Murphy went 5 for 8 overall and 2 for 3 beyond the arc. I love Murphy’s shot. He has such a quick release, and it is so pretty. I always think it is going in now (which is why it was so weird to see him nearly air-ball one in the second half).

Both made it known that they found motivation in Bennett’s “finesse-y” comments after the Tech loss. They both got to the line a few times and were perfect when they got there, with each going 6 for 6.

Murphy in particular made some great hustle plays. In the first half, he dove on the ground for a loose ball. He skied for two key rebounds in the latter stages of the second half, one of which he drew a foul on to get to the line for two.

“I know for me, I just took it personal,” Murphy said of his coach’s comments after the Hokies defeat. “I was like, ‘I’m going to make sure that I can’t give him a reason to call me soft.'”

Added Hauser: “You never want your coach to call you soft, so you take that pretty personally. We were physical. We were tough-minded.”

Huff scored 12 points on 5-for-12 shooting, but made only 1 for 6 from beyond the arc. He added six boards, three assists, and two blocks. When his long shot is off, I’d like to see him around the basket more, because he is really good there, too. With 4:30 left, he made a really sweet move in the lane, made the layup, got fouled, and went to the line to complete the 3-point play. He also found Murphy along the baseline for a jam late in the game, a sequence that looked like it could have been pulled from the win over Syracuse.

“[Murphy] got those nice back cuts because he’s such a threat,” Bennett said. “I thought he took the right shots. He spaces the floor, so Kihei and Reece can get some drives, or Jay even in our, we call it our three-game mix. But he’s got to take the shot that is presented. If it’s a good shot, I want him to take it.”

Clark and Reece Beekman finished with 8 points each. Clark made his lone 3-pointer early in the game, just like he did at Tech. Beekman did not attempt one.

Clark had six assists and two rebounds, but also three turnovers, a couple coming when it looked like he simply lost control of his dribble. Beekman had five boards and an assist, but three turnovers as well. At least one turnover from each led to State dunks.

Beekman had an excellent moment around the 16-minute mark of the second half when he blocked a shot attempt out of bounds, then right after that poked the ball away to Clark, who fed Beekman up the court for a layup plus a foul.

Clark had two steals, including one with 5:46 remaining that he finished off by finding Hauser in the corner for a triple to make it 50-46.

I would have liked to see a more solid outing. The Wolfpack were not as impressive as the Hokies. As much as it sucks to lose to Tech, this would have been a worse loss. But I’m not going to complain too much about another ACC road win. The ‘Hoos got back on track, stayed in first place in the conference, and now they can move forward, look to improve, and hopefully get back their swag at home Saturday versus Pittsburgh, which just beat Virginia Tech.

“The stats that stood out to me were we only allowed [four] offensive rebounds [in the second half] when we allowed [seven] in the first half. That was a bit of resiliency,” Bennett said. “I kept saying [during timeouts], ‘Don’t yield, don’t yield,’ and I was glad to see that we hung tough and came away with a good road victory.”

Photo credit: ACC pool photographer Ethan Hyman

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