The last time these two teams met, an atrocious performance at the line allowed NC State to first force overtime, and then prevail in added time, en route to the Wolfpack winning the ACC Tournament.  What was different this time out?

Plus

A win is a win is a win.  Even in Tony Bennett’s pomp, Kevin Keatts’ Wolfpack gave the Virginia Cavaliers more troubles than any other mid-tier ACC team.  Per ESPN, 50 of 157 matchups between these two teams have been decided by fewer than five points.  Make that 51 of 158 games now.  Any win over NC State is a good win.

Plus

Elijah Saunders has found his groove.  For the third time in six games, Saunders has set a new career high, this time with 22 points on 7/9 shooting, (he was 1/2 from deep) and 7/8 from the free throw line.  NC State was without Ben Middlebrooks but 6’10” Brandon Huntley-Hatfield gave the Wolfpack plenty of size in the paint.  Saunders’ growing role is important because…

Minus

Isaac McKneely is officially a one-trick pony at this point.  iMac went 4/9 from deep, bringing him to 44.7% for the season.  There’s no doubt he’s a great shooter, Virginia’s best ever.  But his two-point shooting?  It’s getting worse.  He’s at 36%, which means if he can be run off the three-point line, he can be neutralized.  It didn’t matter for this one as McKneely hit a trio of threes igniting a 38-12 Virginia run early in the second half that would give the Hoos a 12-point lead from which the ‘Pack couldn’t recover.

Plus

Virginia can break!

Minus

Dai Dai Ames must really be in Coach Ron Sanchez’ doghouse.  Ames got nine minutes (seemed like less at the time) in the first half, didn’t do anything egregiously wrong, and then sat for the last 30 minutes of the game.  NC State played full court the entire game, which to be frank didn’t bother Virginia unduly whether Ames was in or not.  I like variety in my offensive schemes and Ames brings ballhandling that Andrew Rohde simply does not possess.

Plus

Taine Murray’s parents were in the house and he put on a show for the third straight game.  He didn’t score in double figures but he had five assists, four of them on threes.  He’s become Virginia’s best driver to the basket, and NC State clearly had that on their scouting report.  But this increased gravity means that as defenders clog the lane, there are shooters wide open.  And on this day, Murray found them.

Plus

Andrew Rohde played one of his finer games in a Virginia uniform.  He was solid across the board scoring 11 points on 4/8 shooting (2/3 from deep) and had seven assists (most in his Virginia career) against just one turnover.  NC State pressed the ball from the opening tip and Rohde handled the pressure with aplomb.

Plus

After opening up 2/7 from beyond the arc in the first half, Virginia shot 53.8% (7/13) in the second frame.  You can win a lot of games connecting at a 53% clip, but equally important, Virginia nearly doubled the number of attempts.  Ishan Sharma (2/3 from deep for the game) and McKneely don’t have much value as jump-shooters inside the arc, so the team needs to shoot more threes.  In Virginia wins (not including games vs minnows Campbell and Manhattan) the Hoos have attempted 23 threes a game.

Read More: Five Takeaways

Minus

NC State pounded Virginia on the offensive boards, grabbing 12 in the second half alone.  After falling into a 12-point deficit, NC State put Virginia to shame.  In one stretch where they clawed to 68-65 after having been down 67-55, NC State had four possessions (out of five) where they grabbed offensive rebounds and scored.  Oh sure, Virginia is well coached and everyone was doing a good job boxing out, but NC State’s athleticism was too much for the Cavaliers.

Minus

That 38-12 Virginia run was damn near illusory.  It was the prettiest basketball Virginia has played since raining threes vs Villanova.  And Virginia almost blew it.  But Saunders went to the line with 15 seconds remaining and canned both free throws to secure the win for Virginia.  Memo to Coach Sanchez:  Saunders is a better free throw shooter than McKneely.  It’s going to be tough to go against three years of McKneely history at Virginia if the team gets to shoot technicals or you are drawing up in-bounds late in ball games, but Saunders needs to be the #1 option.

Plus

The above is the pessimist’s take.  The optimist’s take is that Virginia withstood a three-point barrage from NC State (6/11) and a perfect performance from the line (7/7) in the first half and rallied for the win.  This team has collapsed many a time the past couple of years, but not this time.  And it was a redemptive win against NC State, so that counts for double.

All the Highlights

Next Up:  Virginia hosts Louisville on Saturday, January 4th.  Game time is 4:00pm and the game is on the ACC Network.

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