No. 3 Virginia Holds on in Overtime at No. 23 NC State
Postgame Quotes | Postgame Notes | Boxscore
RALEIGH, N.C. – Kyle Guy (Indianapolis, Ind.) hit a three to give UVA the lead and De’Andre Hunter (Philadelphia, Pa.) made two free throws to seal No. 3 Virginia’s (19-1, 7-1 ACC) 66-65 overtime at No. 23 NC State (16-5, 4-4 ACC) on Tuesday evening at PNC Arena.
Hunter led the Cavaliers with 15 points, with five rebounds and four assists. Ty Jerome (New Rochelle, N.Y.) had 12 points and Guy finished with 10 points. Braxton Key (Charlotte, N.C.) had a team-high eight rebounds. Mamadi Diakite (Conakry, Guinea, Africa) had eight points, five rebounds and four blocks.
Virginia shot 46 percent from the field, while NC State shot 34 percent. The Cavaliers led in rebounds (39-35) and points in the paint (32-24). UVA had 16 turnovers to eight for the Wolfpack.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Virginia took a 12-5 lead with a 6-0 run early in the first half. NC State tied it up 17-17, but UVA responded with a 6-0 run to lead 23-17 and took a 27-23 lead into the half. The Cavaliers used a 12-2 run early in the second half to lead 39-26 with 14:25 to play. The Wolfpack climbed back into the game and closed the second half on a 9-2 run to tie the game and send it to overtime.
NC State scored first in overtime, but a dunk by Jay Huff (Durham, N.C.) and four free throws put UVA ahead 61-58. The game was tied 61-61 with 2:22 when Guy hit a three-pointer to put the Cavaliers in the lead. NC State cut it to one with eight seconds remaining, but Hunter converted two free throws. The Wolfpack had a chance to tie with three free throws, but only made two as UVA held on for the win.
GAME BALL GOES TO
De’Andre Hunter had a team-high 15 points, shooting 4-of-8 from the field and was 6-of-8 from the free throw line, including the two free throws in overtime to keep UVA in the lead.
NOTES
• UVA posted its first overtime win since Dec. 22, 2015 vs. Cal (63-62)
• UVA has a seven-game winning streak vs. NC State
• The Cavaliers are 14-1 in ACC road action over the past two seasons
• Guy has a 20-game 3-pointer streak
• Diakite matched a career high with four blocked shots and has a 13-game blocked shot streak
QUOTES
On postgame message to the team:
“Learn, certainly. I thought we played well enough to win, but a couple of those key stats (stick out) – the 16 offensive rebounds and the 16 turnovers. NC State plays good defense. They’re good with their hands, they’re athletic, they’re aggressive, and they did rattle us and take us out of our rhythm. Some of our offensive fouls and decision-making or defensive fouls at inopportune times almost cost us the game. Of course, I thought Walker was just a man on the glass. I thought he was hard for to handle. We didn’t do a great job in those areas. Usually when you give up that many offensive rebounds and that many turnovers, you’re not going to be successful. We made enough good plays and hung in there and got some good lifts from guys. I thought we had some chances to separate a little bit, but they made some big plays. We’re thankful for the win, but we need to grow from this and learn from it. We brought losing into the equation when I didn’t know we had to in certain situations with fouls and turnovers and unsound decisions.”
UP NEXT
Virginia returns home to host Miami on Saturday, Feb. 2 at 2 p.m. at John Paul Jones Arena.