Scott Wood made five three-pointers in the second half, including three in a row in a critical stretch to break the game open, and North Carolina State dominated Virginia en route to a 75-56 win in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals on friday in Greensboro.
Wood was 7-of-12 from three-point range on the game and scored 23 points for the Wolfpack (24-9), which led 30-21 at the half and trailed only once, in the first minute on a hook shot by UVa. freshman Mike Tobey.
Wood’s barrage from long range pushed the lead to 41-25 and forced a timeout by UVa. coach Tony Bennett at the 17:32 mark. Virginia (21-11) was never able to get the margin back below single digits after as the Cavs struggled from long range themselves, shooting just 5-of-20 (25 percent) from three-point range after coming into the game as the ACC’s second-best three-point shooting team at 39 percent.
Joe Harris continued his late-season swoon, scoring 13 points on 4-of-13 shooting, including missing seven of his nine three-point attempts.
Akil Mitchell led Virginia with 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field and also pulled down a team-high eight rebounds.
N.C. State outrebounded UVa. by a 38-26 margin and shot 45.8 percent from the field and 50 percent (8-of-16) from three-point range.
C.J. Leslie had 17 points and 11 rebounds for State, which advances to Saturday’s semifinals against ACC regular-season champion Miami.
Virginia now awaits word on its postseason fate. Its 21-11 overall record and 11-7 regular-season finish in the ACC are the strong marks on a resume also pockmarked by early-season losses to lesser lites George Mason, Delaware and Old Dominion.
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Chris Graham
