If you went to JPJ looking for a basketball masterpiece Wednesday evening, you might be asking for a refund.
There was nothing that looked like art between Virginia and NC State.
Nothing.
No perfectly executed offensive schemes, no dazzling open court play, no lightning fast breaks.
And that was just the way Virginia wanted it.
The result: Virginia held off the Wolfpack 59-53 in overtime.
It was the 11th straight win at home this season and extended the nation’s longest home winning streak to 21.
The final minutes of regulation were downright ugly for the Cavaliers.
An inside basket by the Pack’s human mountain D.J. Burns pulled State to within 47-45 with 57.9 seconds left. The Wolfpack needed a huge defensive stop and got it, calling a timeout with 26 seconds left.
As expected, NC State pushed the ball into Burns’ hands, a strong defensive effort forced a Burns miss, but point guard Michael O’Connell’s putback of the miss tied the game.
Virginia missed on the other end, and the game went into OT.
The Cavaliers never trailed in overtime. Jordan Minor scored first for UVA, then Taine Murray soon followed with a three-pointer to put distance between the clubs.
Ryan Dunn closed out the win with a fast-break dunk that erupted the JPJ crowd of 13,947.
The Cavaliers were coming off two straight ACC wins, the latest, a win Saturday at Georgia Tech, which was the first ACC road win of the year for Virginia.
Wednesday was a huge test for Virginia in numerous ways.
Despite a two-game ACC win streak over Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech, neither Techs were considered upper-tier ACC caliber teams.
And just 18 days ago, the Wolfpack devoured Virginia in Raleigh, 76-60, in a game that wasn’t that close.
So, a win over State would mean plenty.
And that’s what the Cavaliers got.
Ugly and all.
This game was very Virginia-like.
A game where offensive statistics are hard to look at.
A game where offense often seems unimportant.
A game that was decided by the defense.
Yep, that’s Virginia basketball.
Need evidence?
Virginia held the Pack to 15 first-half points, on 6 for 24 shooting, with no three-pointers; 18 days ago in Raleigh, State torched Virginia with 10 threes.
After spotting NC State with a 6-0 lead early, Virginia contested every shot, resulting in two long scoring droughts of over five minutes in the first half alone.
The Cavaliers, despite giving up size in the paint, outrebounded the Wolfpack 54-32.
That’s been Virginia’s recipe for success in the past, and that’s the blueprint for the remainder of this season.
Something special about being at home
In pouring over the final game stats, a couple of things jumped out.
Many teams play harder, more physically at home. Virginia notches it up to a different level inside JPJ Arena.
UVA starts putting bodies on bodies in warmups, it seems.
And they do it without much attention, from the referees at least.
Virginia was whistled for eight fouls – in the entire game.
What about Virginia’s rebounding weakness?
A weakness throughout the season has been the Cavaliers’ inability to win the rebounding war.
A small front court for Virginia often took the blame. The Cavaliers disproved that Wednesday night. UVA held a commanding 54-32 rebound margin, including 20 offensive rebounds, a season-high.
Nothing magical about the turnaround. No midseason trades, no players returning from the injury list, simply a visible higher level of intensity and want-it-more effort from every player.
Wednesday, the biggest rebound may have sealed the win for UVA. Late in OT, both teams struggled for a State missed shot down low, but Virginia’s Taine Murray wanted it more and grabbed it.
Taine Murray is everything that is right about college basketball
Murray is the anti-transfer portal player. He patiently paid his dues, waiting for his chance.
Without Murray, Virginia doesn’t beat NC State. Not even debatable.
And he was an after-thought on the bench for most of the first half, not entering the game until about 6 minutes left.
The talk on press row was that Murray had obviously fallen out of Bennett’s player rotation.
Maybe that talk made its way down to the UVA bench.
If you ask any Virginia player who the hardest-working player on the team is, the answer is always Taine Murray.
Not just this season, but since his arrival in Charlottesville.
No pouting, no bailing out, simply hard work and determination to improve and contribute.
Look for more Murray moving forward.
Take that, transfer portal.
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