Game Summary:
The first half went well, especially considering NC State was down 40-20 and 32-19 at the half in the first two games and the game was mostly decided. The Wolfpack came out of the gate hot and led till the 6:55 mark when UVA went up 25-24. The Pack shot 42% / 38% (3-8)/ 88% and led rebounding 16-15. Unfortunately, as is often the case, the Wolfpack did not guard the 3PT shooters well and UVA shot 50% (6-12). The most concerning aspect was Darrion Williams’ three fouls.
The second half
started well until the 14:55 mark when it was 45-46 and UVA went on a 9-0 run to push the lead to 10, 45-55. Coach Wade called a timeout at 11:47 and stopped the run. The Wolfpack hit the dreaded 61-point mark at 5:19, down 7 points. The Wolfpack played tough and got a couple of steals and a block and closed the score to 74-78 with 26 seconds left, with Paul McNeil scoring 7 points. But the Pack wasn’t able to score again, the Cavaliers finished the game with 3 free throws. Final score, 74-81.
Overall Takeaways:
- The Pack played a very good game against a top ten team with a very large front court. The effort was excellent. This could be a great launching pad for next week.
- The Wolfpack won the offensive rebounds 10-9 and only lost overall 33-34.
- As much as the coverage people talked about Virginia’s 9 blocked shots, NC State blocked 7
- NC State missed too many point-blank shots
Coach Wade on the LSU Rumors
Individual Highlights
- Paul McNeil led all scorers with 26, including 6-11 from 3PT.
- Paul now has 102 made 3PT shots, only behind DJ Horne (105) and Rodney Monroe/Scott Wood with 104 in the record books.
- Ven Lubin had another double-double with 14 points and leading the team with 10 rebounds
- Quadir Copeland led assists with 6
- Ven Lubin led steals with 2
- Lubin and Copeland each had 3 blocked shots
Player Stats and Box Score
