In the first meeting with Virginia on Jan. 3 in Raleigh, NC State fell behind by 12 minutes early in the first half.
Virginia jumped on the Wolfpack early and maintained a commanding 40-20 lead at halftime.
Wolfpack coach Will Wade said after the game that the Cavaliers “whipped” his team in every phase of the contest.
Wade was hoping to see a different outcome on Tuesday in the second meeting between the teams this season.
He didn’t.
In fact, Game 1 may have been a little more competitive, as Virginia secured a 76-61 victory.
In the rematch on Tuesday at John Paul Jones Arena, Virginia even more thoroughly dominated State, winning 90-61.
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The Wolfpack lost for the third time in four games – its lone win an 82-58 dismantling of a depleted North Carolina team last week.
After last night’s game, Wade didn’t try to coach-speak his way out of the beatdown.
“Look, Virginia can go to the Final Four. They’re a good team,” Wade said.
“And they steamrolled us. They’re better than we are. If we play them 10 times, I’m not sure we can beat them. Maybe once, get lucky on a neutral court, but they’re just flat better than us,” added Wade.
No one in the crowded UVA Basketball press room would disagree.
“We can sit here and pontificate about anything else you want – they’re flat out better than us, and they’re better coached. Ryan Odom has done a much better job than I have,” continued Wade.
Again, no one would disagree on that.
“We didn’t move the ball, we couldn’t get clean looks,” Wade said, and the clean looks we got, we didn’t hit.”
As a team, NC State shot a season low 29.4 percent from the floor, and they had to heat up in the second to reach that abysmal number.
NC State struggled offensively in the first half, but its defense kept the Wolfpack somewhat in the game, trailing 32-19 at the break.
Virginia shot just 35.7 percent from the floor and committed eight turnovers.
The eight turnovers forced by State limited transition opportunities for UVA, and the Cavaliers grabbed just four offensive rebounds in the first half.
The game was definitely a story of two halves.
NC State not only gave up points; they gave them up in bunches.
The Wolfpack allowed Virginia to score 58 second-half points, four shy of the season-high 62 points they’d allowed to Louisville in a 118-77 loss.
The Cavaliers shot an incredible 70 percent from the field – 50 percent from three.
It was obvious from the start that NC State was undersized against UVA, particularly in the frontcourt.
Tuesday, Virginia’s size created problems for State on both ends of the floor.
The Cavaliers’ defense shut down the Wolfpack’s midrange shooting and virtually locked down the rim.
In the first half, Virginia had eight blocks, while the Pack had just six field goals.
UVA finished the game with 12 blocks and limited the Wolfpack to a mere 9-of-21 with shots at the rim.
More from Wade: “They were playing volleyball at the basket; our lack of size is very evident when we play a team like Virginia.”
NC State’s Quadir Copeland has had a huge impact this season on the Wolfpack offense.
Copeland played just 11 minutes in the first half after picking up his second foul with almost 10 minutes left.
With the senior guard on the bench, State appeared to be running in quicksand.
“He’s got to be more disciplined,” Wade said. “When you play the better teams, all the energy and the rah-rah stuff, that’s not good enough to beat the better teams.”
Not looking ahead
NC State was certainly no lightweight arriving in Charlottesville.
The Wolfpack began the week tied for third with Miami in the conference standings, fighting for a coveted double-bye in next month’s ACC Tournament.
State owns road wins at Florida State, Clemson and SMU.
Translation: the Wolfpack is not white meat.
So, Virginia focused entirely on NC State, even with the huge game looming against #1 Duke in Durham on Saturday.
Virginia, Duke gets tuneups
Duke (26-2, 14-1 ACC) followed Saturday’s win over then-#1 Michigan by pounding Notre Dame, 100-56, in South Bend on Tuesday.
A Blue Devil win Saturday over UVA would clinch the top seed in the ACC Tournament with two regular-season games left.
Duke has won 30 consecutive home games and is a perfect 13-0 this season.
This game could actually come down to experience; if so, check that box in Virginia’s favor.
The Cavaliers have grown men all over the floor, while Duke plays teenagers.
In an oversized (slightly) high school gym.
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