The Virginia men’s basketball team’s dominant start to ACC play continued on Saturday with a 76-45 victory at NC State. The Cavaliers jumped out to a 10-point lead just 4:50 into the contest and never let up in Raleigh as they snared their third double-digit conference win in a row.
UVa beat Florida State by 12 points last Saturday before it posted a 23-point win against Wake Forest on Wednesday and the 31-point win Saturday. The Hoos (12-4, 3-0 ACC) have led by double figures in the last two ACC games against Wake and State for 67:32 of the possible 80:00 minutes. In fact, the Hoos have owned leads of better than 20 points for the majority of the last two second halves.
After dropping three of its last five non-conference games including a 35-point loss at Tennessee less than two weeks ago, it’s been an impressive string of play to say the least.
“I’ve said it before, every team has their warts or gaps in their game. You have to figure out what they are, address them, and then move on,” Cavalier coach Tony Bennett said on the Virginia Sports Radio Network. “We learned a lot. One of our pillars is thankfulness and we talk about being thankful of course for the opportunities you get and how blessed these guys are, but thankful for what you learn in adversity. We learned a lot about ourselves. … A little more structure offensively, a little more discipline and shot discernment, and we really tried to tighten the screws defensively.”
“I think unity is a big term we’ve really focused on, trying to come together as a team,” Cav sophomore Malcolm Brogdon said on the Virginia Sports Radio Network. “We keep competing every day in practice, going at each other hard. We know it’s not going to be easy. There are going to be ups and downs. We were down. We had to bounce back and I feel like we have. We have to keep it up.”
Virginia jumped out to a 14-4 lead over the first five minutes Saturday in perfectly balanced fashion. All five starters chipped in at least one bucket during the early run, a trend that held throughout the day as the opening quintet posted at least 8 points each in the victory.
Sophomore center Mike Tobey proved to be the key catalyst in the first half as he scored 10 of the first 30 points for the team. Tobey tallied 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting to go with 7 rebounds, 2 blocked shots, and 1 assist. He took it to 7-footer Jordan Vandenberg as well as the NCSU reserves. During the day, Tobey made lay-ups, a fall-away jumper, a spot-up jumper, and more.
Joining Tobey at the top of the game’s scoring column was senior Joe Harris, who also had 16 points. Harris made 4 of 8 shots on the day, including 2 of 4 triples. Both 3-pointers had some awe quality to them as one came from NBA range and the other beat the shot clock buzzer. Harris chipped in 3 steals, 2 assists, and 2 rebounds as well despite playing just 20 minutes due to second-half foul trouble and lopsided score. Of note, Harris also made 6 of 6 free throw attempts.
Brogdon rounded out the double-figure scorers with 13 points. He made 6 of 10 shots. Senior Akil Mitchell led the way on the boards with a game-high 12 rebounds to go with 8 points, 1 steal, and 1 blocked shot. Freshman London Perrantes had 8 points, 5 assists, and 0 turnovers.
“I feel like I’ve had some rough games this season. Coach Bennett allows me to make mistakes and learn from them and not take me out of the game. He allows me to play from freedom,” Brogdon said on the Virginia Sports Radio Network. “I also have good teammates that keep passing me the ball and have confidence in me consistently and that really helps when you have teammates that will keep getting you involved.”
Brogdon’s biggest contribution, meanwhile, may have come on the defensive end where he helped spearhead the defensive effort for Virginia. Brogdon was rock solid on D as the Hoos made life miserable for the Wolfpack. NC State’s T.J. Warren, who entered the game as the ACC’s leading scorer at 22.2 points per game, struggled against the Hoos, finishing with 4 points, 4 turnovers, and 1 assist on 1-of-9 shooting.
The effort on Warren helped shake NCSU’s overall productivity. The Wolfpack made just 13 of 45 shots (28.9%) and 2 of 10 3-pointers (20.0%). They recorded just 7 assists against 16 turnovers. All in all, it was a frustrating day for a team that had averaged 72.7 points per game this season and had been among the nation’s best teams with 2-point field goal shooting percentages.
“We knew they were leading the country in 2-point field goal percentage so we said alright, we’re going to jam that lane like we do, try to contest shots, and limit them to the one shot,” Bennett said on the Virginia Sports Radio Network. “Again, I always talk about it, our way to win or play competitive ball doesn’t change a whole lot. I thought it was pretty jam-packed in there.”
It proved to be a bad day for ACC basketball in North Carolina in general. All four conference teams in the state lost on Saturday by double figures. This is the first time UNC, NC State, and Duke all lost on the same day since March 8, 1996. That could present an even bigger challenge for the Hoos in their next game – they travel to Cameron Indoor Stadium to face the Blue Devils on Monday night at 7 p.m.
“We talked about [how] you can’t be comfortable, especially on the road. If you’re comfortable, you’re going to get blasted,” said on the Virginia Sports Radio Network. “Duke I see went on the road and had tough one against Clemson. That’ll be a hornet’s nest. Our ability to come out with an edge and a competitiveness in what will be a live atmosphere no doubt will be significant.”
