Both NC State and Clemson went into their Wednesday afternoon contest knowing a win could put the team on the right side of the bubble, if not guarantee it a berth in the NCAA Tournament. A loss would be a crushing blow to either teams’ dreams to go dancing.
For 20 minutes, though, only the Tigers played like they knew they had something on the line, shooting the ball well and burying a sloppy Wolfpack team into a 42-26 deficit.
But in the second half, things changed. The Tigers were the one who fell prey to poor offense, and Kevin Keatts’ Wolfpack came roaring back behind Markell Johnson (23 points) who hit two free throws with under three seconds left to give the Wolfpack a stunning 59-58 win.
NC State (22-10, 9-9) might have done enough Wednesday to hear its name called on Selection Sunday. Even if it hasn’t, though, it’ll get another chance to impress the selection committee when it meets tournament top seed Virginia (28-2, 16-2) on Thursday.
In the lone regular-season meeting between the two programs, Virginia escaped Raleigh with a 66-65 win. The Wolfpack forced 16 Virginia turnovers, grabbed 16 offensive rebounds and had a chance to force a second overtime before Johnson could only knock down two of three free throws with less than a second remaining in overtime. The Cavaliers, meanwhile, had De’Andre Hunter and Jack Salt foul out and saw Ty Jerome suffer a back sprain that knocked him out of the next game, against Miami.
Wednesday’s win was a massive one for the Wolfpack, and their first postseason victory under Keatts. Thursday’s game could be just as big, though, and they’ll ride a strong wave of momentum after a dominant second half against the Tigers.
Thursday’s game is scheduled to tip off at 12:30. The Wolfpack will look for revenge and a resume-building win. The Cavaliers will look to start their ACC Tournament title defense with a good effort against a solid opponent.
Three Cavaliers to watch
Jay Huff. When Salt fouled out in Raleigh in late January, it was Huff — not Mamadi Diakite — getting the key minutes late in regulation and in overtime. And Huff delivered in arguably the most crucial stretch of playing time he had as a Cavalier to that point. In 15 minutes, Huff scored nine points, grabbed a rebound and had a block. Coming off a nine-point performance against Louisville on Saturday, Huff can help swing any game in Virginia’s favor, and Thursday would be a great time to show that ability.
De’Andre Hunter. Hunter led the way with 15 points against the Wolfpack in the regular-season game, but the moment that likely stuck with him from that contest was his foul against Johnson with less than a second left in overtime that gave Johnson three free throws down three. Luckily for Hunter, who wouldn’t have been available for double overtime given his five fouls, Johnson missed one. On Thursday, Hunter, the ACC Defensive Player of the Year, could again find himself matchup up on Johnson. He’ll look to be better this time around against NC State’s explosive scorer.
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Ty Jerome. There was good and bad about Jerome’s game at NC State. He scored 12 points, grabbed six rebounds and dished out six assists. He also committed three fouls, turned the ball over four times and ultimately came away from the game with a bad back that limited his practice time and pregame routine significantly for several weeks. Jerome said Saturday he’s back to 100 percent, though, and he’ll be in charge of orchestrating Virginia’s offense against a pesky, athletic Wolfpack squad.
Three Wolfpack players to watch
Markell Johnson. The Markell Johnson of late January doesn’t remotely resemble the one of today. In the first meeting between these two teams, Johnson was coming off a shoulder injury and made just three of his 11 shots in the loss. Now healthy, though, he’s showing the full arsenal on the offensive end. He scored at least 14 points in three of the last four regular season games and then torched Clemson to the tune of 23 points, the only Wolfpack player to score in double figures. Johnson is NC State’s best scorer and shot creator by a wide margin. For NC State to pull the upset, he needs to continue his hot scoring.
DJ Funderburk. Funderburk, who splits time with Wyatt Walker as the Wolfpacks’ big man, was the far more effective of the two Wednesday. He scored eight points, grabbed four rebounds and was a team-best plus-10 in just 20 minutes. Funderburk, who started his college career by being dismissed by Ohio State, has been coming on strong lately in his first season with NC State and is athletic and active on both ends.
Torin Dorn. Dorn averages 13.7 points per game, but it’s on the boards where he makes his biggest impact. Despite standing just 6-foot-5, the junior guard averages a team-high 6.9 rebounds per game. Against Clemson, he hauled in a game-high 12 rebounds. Dorn is a terrific glue guy — a willing defender, a capable scorer and a great rebounder. When he plays well, so, too, does the team.
KenPom says: Virginia, 73-61 (87 percent chance of victory)
Final notes:
- Virginia has defeated NC State seven consecutive times. The last NC State win came in the 2013 ACC Tournament.
- Kevin Keatts is a Lynchburg, Virginia native and coached at Hargrave Military Academy in southern Virginia for over a decade. Among his players there was former Virginia star Mike Scott. “Tony and I talk about it all the time,” Keatts said ahead of the first game between the teams this year. “He did a tremendous job with Mike and [was] certainly one of the reasons Mike’s been able to be successful at the professional league.”
- UVA has two players from North Carolina: Jay Huff and Braxton Key. NC State has no players from Virginia.
- NC State is no stranger to upsetting highly ranked teams during Keatts’ tenure. It beat No. 7 Auburn earlier this year, and it bested No. 2 Arizona, No. 2 Duke and No. 10 North Carolina last year.
Story by Zach Pereles
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