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Big Second Half From Reynolds Lifts Cavs Over NC State, 71-58
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Jan. 24, 2007
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) – J.R. Reynolds scored 24 of his 29 points in the second half Wednesday night to lead Virginia past North Carolina State 71-58.
Sean Singletary added 27 points and nine rebounds for the Cavaliers (12-6, 4-2 Atlantic Coast Conference), who have won three straight games.
Brandon Costner scored 14 points to lead the Wolfpack (11-8, 1-5), which has lost four of five games to slide near the bottom of the league standings.
N.C. State had won eight of the past nine here in the series, but the Cavaliers rode their preseason all-ACC guards to a big road win. Singletary, a 6-foot junior, went 9-for-18 from the field and 5-for-10 from 3-point range to cause problems for the Wolfpack all night at the point.
But Reynolds, a 6-2 senior who was coming off a 40-point game in a weekend win against Wake Forest, was even better in the second half. Reynolds went 9-for-15 from the field and 5-for-8 from behind the arc for the game, but scored 20 of 22 points for Virginia after N.C. State had cut a 12-point deficit to one point midway through the half.
Ultimately, the Cavaliers needed every bit of it. The Wolfpack hung around into the final minutes despite shooting 32 percent and going 11-for-20 from the foul line.
With his team holding a 42-41 lead, Reynolds opened his stretch with a fadeaway jumper over the outstretched arms of 6-7 Gavin Grant with 10:53 left, then hit consecutive 3s over Grant and 6-7 Dennis Horner to make it 52-44 with 8:38 to play.
Reynolds kept pouring it on from there, draining a fadeaway jumper over Courtney Fells and a 3 off a feed from Singletary. Then, after faking a drive to spin Fells around, Reynolds knocked down a 3 from the left wing to make it 60-51 with about 2 1/2 minutes left.
Reynolds hit four straight free throws to close his personal spurt, giving Virginia a 64-56 lead with 1:01 left.
The duo got little help for the game; the rest of the Cavaliers combined to shoot 6-for-23.
Neither team did much offensively in the first half, shooting a combined 27.7 percent and going 6-for-25 from 3-point range while committing 17 turnovers. Virginia had the toughest stretch, missing 15 straight shots and going without a field goal for almost the final 10 minutes of the half – prompting coach Dave Leitao to angrily snap a clipboard over his knee during a timeout with 24.5 seconds left.
Still, once Singletary knocked down a 3-pointer from in front of the N.C. State bench just before halftime, the Cavaliers led 26-19 at the break.
That lead grew to 42-30 on consecutive 3-pointers by Singletary with about 14 minutes left before the Wolfpack made a run to cut the deficit to 42-41 on a leaner from Grant. But N.C. State would get no closer.