Home Live Coverage: Virginia faces NC State, looking for first ACC road win
Sports News

Live Coverage: Virginia faces NC State, looking for first ACC road win

Chris Graham

chris graham uva basketball Virginia (11-3, 1-1 ACC) is on the road at NC State (10-3, 2-0 ACC) today at 2 p.m.

UVA is a 1.5-point underdog in the matchup with the Pack, which is playing its ACC home opener.

AFP editor Chris Graham leads our live coverage of the game from the home office in the icy Shenandoah Valley.

Buchanan in the starting lineup

Blake Buchanan is getting the start at center for Virginia. Not a big surprise there. State’s big man, 6’9″, 275-pound DJ Burns, would be a tough matchup for Jake Groves, a 6’9″, 211-pound perimeter shooter.

OK, that’s actually a better start

A modest 5-4 lead at the first media timeout is not usually anything to write home about, but … it’s not 13-0 or 13-1 in the negative.

Both teams are 2-of-6 from the floor.

I like the way this one feels four minutes in.

This one is going to be a slog

And that’s a good thing.

Virginia leads 11-9 at the second media timeout.

Isaac McKneely is being aggressive: six shot attempts, two makes, one from three.

Hanging in there

Third media timeout: Virginia 19, State 15.

The offense is getting good looks in the lane: 5-of-7 at the rim.

UVA is 3-of-11 on jumpers: 1-of-5 from three, 2-of-6 on twos.

TB timeout

State on a mini 8-2 run, fueled by a tough-break end-of-shot-clock three by Dennis Parker.

It’s 23-21 State at the 4:29 mark.

A rare TB run-stopping TO there.

State gets hot late

Opening 10 minutes: State was 4-of-14 from the floor.

Next 10 minutes: State was 11-of-16 from the floor, 4-of-8 from three.

The Pack leads 35-28 at the half.

Five of the makes were layups. State started slipping the double-teams on the hedge and getting big guys alone at the rim.

Reece Beekman has eight points and five assists.

Ryan Dunn has seven points and five boards.

Virginia is 1-of-8 from three.

Second-half adjustments

  • Going to need to double the post to help Buchanan on Burns, who has six points (3-of-5 FG) and three assists (one TO) in 13 minutes.
  • Groves and iMac are a combined 3-of-13, but they need to keep shooting.
  • The guards are allowing State to pressure them into starting the offense too far out. Going to need to try to make them pay for being overaggressive.

State has taken control

The lead doubled in the first four minutes from seven to 14. State is hitting everything it throws at the rim, it seems: 4-of-6 from the floor, 2-of-4 from three to start the half.

Virginia is 1-of-3 with two iMac free throws, two Buchanan free-throw misses, and two turnovers.

State continues to assert its dominance of Virginia by pushing out the offense well beyond the three-point line.

There have to be opportunities for dribble-drives and cuts with the D that extended.

Damn

It’s 59-39 Pack at the under-12 media timeout.

If the wild three at the end of the shot clock in the first half was the turning point, here’s what we’ve seen from both sides since.

State is 17-of-26 from the field; Virginia is 7-of-20.

It’s been 44-20 State since that play.

Of course, it was just coincidence

It can’t be that a bonkers three changed the game that much.

State is making a lot of contested shots, but on the other side, Virginia is not.

UVA, down 64-44 at the under-8 timeout, is 17-of-42 from the floor: 3-of-11 from three, 10-of-18 at the rim, 4-of-13 on two-point jumpers.

They can run offense at JPJ; can’t run offense anywhere else.

Edging back toward being in it, but too late

A 7-0 Virginia run has it at 67-53 State at the under-4 timeout.

Funny how it works out – State has missed five of its last six shots after making everything there for a long stretch.

All done

State wins 76-60. Postgame coverage upcoming.

Chris Graham

Chris Graham

Chris Graham, the king of "fringe media," a zero-time Virginia Sportswriter of the Year, and a member of zero Halls of Fame, is the founder and editor of Augusta Free Press. A 1994 alum of the University of Virginia, Chris is the author and co-author of seven books, including Poverty of Imagination, a memoir published in 2019. For his commentaries on news, sports and politics, go to his YouTube page, or subscribe to his Street Knowledge podcast. Email Chris at [email protected].

Latest News

tony bennett
Basketball, Sports

Bad news, UVA Basketball fans: No, Tony Bennett isn’t coming back

wally walker uva basketball
Basketball, Sports

UVA Basketball: ‘Hoos, on Tony Bennett Day, dispatch Georgia Tech, 75-61

With UVA Basketball royalty – De'Andre Hunter and Ty Jerome, among other NBA alums – in the house for Tony Bennett Day, Virginia raced past Georgia Tech to a 75-63 win on Saturday night in front of a sellout home crowd.

newspapers
Virginia News

Lee Enterprises faces ‘cybersecurity’ attack affecting news operations

The parent company of a print and digital news conglomerate has revealed that a “cybersecurity” event is the cause of paused newspaper and digital publications in 24 states, including Virginia.

coffee in hand in car
Local News

Coffee wars? Micah’s buys land in Waynesboro, 200 feet from Kline’s planned espresso bar

elon musk donald trump
Politics, U.S. & World News

Democratic AGs win injunction blocking Trump/Musk raid of federal Treasury

economy
Local News

Shenandoah County: Plastics manufacturer investing $25.7 million, bringing 45 new jobs

drug trafficking arrest
Virginia News

Charlotte man gets 25 years after fentanyl discovered in Jeep in I-95 crash