UVa. holds on for 61-60 win at NC State

Senior forward Mike Scott scored a game-high 18 points and senior guard Sammy Zeglinski and sophomore guard Joe Harris each scored 12 points to lead the Virginia men’s basketball team to a 61-60 victory over NC State in an Atlantic Coast Conference game at the RBC Center Saturday night (Jan. 28).

A three-point attempt by NC State sophomore guard Lorenzo Brown missed with one second left in the game.

The victory improves UVa’s overall record to 17-3 and the Cavaliers are now 4-2 in the ACC. It was Virginia’s fourth consecutive win over NC State.

In this week’s national rankings, Virginia is ranked 19th in The Associated Press poll and 21st in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll.

With the loss NC State is now 15-7 overall and 4-3 in the ACC.

Sophomore forward C.J. Leslie scored 17 points to lead the Wolfpack and senior guard C.J. Williams had 14 points. Junior forward Richard Howell had a double-double with 11 points and a game-high 18 rebounds.

Virginia led by seven points (38-31) at halftime and never trailed in the second half, but an 8-0 NC State run cut the Cavaliers’ lead to one at 44-43 with 12:39 remaining in the game. Brown scored four points in that Wolfpack run.

The Cavaliers put together an 8-0 run of their own to build their lead to 10 points (55-45) with 6:31 to play. Harris had five points in the Virginia run.

UVa still led by six points (61-55) with 1:46 remaining, but a basket by Williams and a three-point basket by junior forward Scott Wood for the Wolfpack cut the Cavaliers’ lead to one point (61-60) with 45 seconds to play.

Zeglinski then missed a jumper for Virginia and the Wolfpack’s final possession ended in Brown’s missed three-point attempt.

UVa built its halftime lead by out-scoring the Wolfpack 16-9 over the final 8:56 of the first half. Scott had six points in the Cavaliers’ run to close the half.

Virginia shot 44.2 percent (19-43) from the field for the game, including 46.7 percent (7-15) from three-point range, and 69.6 percent (16-23) from the free-throw line.

Scott and Harris each had five rebounds to lead UVa in that department, while Zeglinski was 4-5 from three-point range.

NC State shot 40.4 percent (23-57) from the field for the game, including 13.3 percent (2-15) from three-point range, and 57.1 percent (12-21) from the free-throw line. The Wolfpack out-rebounded Virginia 42-25.

UVa plays its third ACC game in six days on Tuesday (Jan. 31) when the Cavaliers host Clemson at John Paul Jones Arena. That game is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. and will be televised by ESPN2.