Twice Sunday night, Devon Hall let a wide-eyed smile wash across his face at the John Paul Jones Arena. That neither came after any of his career-high 25 points probably isn’t surprising to Virginia basketball fans.
The Cavaliers dismantled NC State, 68-51, in their home arena thanks in large part to Hall’s ruthlessly efficient night on the scoreboard. He made seven of nine shots, including four of five 3-pointers, and all seven of his free throws to reach that new career mark, but the broadest smiles of the night had nothing to do with any of that.
In the first half, fellow senior Isaiah Wilkins drained a 3-pointer while getting fouled and when Hall rushed over to greet him, he could barely contain his excitement. Wilkins completed the four-point play moments later, a rare feat that he’d never accomplished before. In the second half, Hall drove down the right side of the paint, drew in a defender, and tossed out an assist to Kyle Guy that put icing on the winning cake in the final two minutes. Hall knew the shot was likely going in before Guy ever shot it and as the two headed back to defense, the captain’s grin was near both ears.
Both coaches praised Hall’s performance shortly after the Hoos wrapped things up at the JPJ.
“Well, talk about efficient, nine shots and 25 points,” Wahoo coach Tony Bennett said. “He’s efficient and he’s really a triple treat in terms of hitting the 3-ball. He’s got great rhythm on his shot, attacking, drawing some fouls, and just really did a good job. I liked him defensively tonight. If you run him off the line he’s strong, when he’s guarded in the post and he can get a foul or two. He really was key when we got a little shaky with the ball at times, I thought he was going and then when Kyle [Guy] was shooting it well, that was a nice combination.”
“Every time we made a little run, those guys made plays, especially Devon Hall,” Wolfpack coach Kevin Keatts said. “He did a tremendous job and I thought he scored at all three levels. He shot behind the arc, he made pull up jump shots, and also got to the line seven times.””
Hall got plenty of support from the cavalry. Guy added 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting, which included 3-of-6 shooting from 3-point range. Wilkins finished with 10 points, six rebounds, two assists, two steals, and one blocked shot with another one of his typically robust stat lines. Ty Jerome also had eight points with six assists to offset six turnovers. Nigel Johnson added four points and five assists with no turnovers.
Virginia logged 16 assists on 23 made baskets and hit 14 of 16 free throws in the game too. In the end, the hosts shot 56.1% (23-41) from the floor, 57.1% from behind the arc (8-14), and 87.5% at the free throw line. The Wahoos posted 22 points off turnovers. All of those numbers indicate that it was a good night in terms of shot selection for the team.
“I think we were just trying to get the best shot possible,” Guy said. “Devon was playing really well getting to the basket and we were all getting to the basket and feeding off of each other. I do not think it was them taking the three-pointer away, I think we were just trying to get better looks.”
While Hall’s big night paced the balanced offensive attack, the defense continued to make life tough on opponents. NC State became the 14th opponent in 17 games to shoot less than 41% from the field and it needed to make its final two shots in garbage time to even crack 40%. The Wolfpack struggled mightily outside the 3-point line, making just 12.5% on 2-of-16 shooting out there. Both Bennett and Wilkins credited Johnson’s on-ball defense at the start of possessions for setting the tone defensively; Johnson played 25 minutes in the win.
Torin Dorn, Lavar Batts, and Lennard Freeman were the only Pack players to have much success converting shots. Dorn went 7-of-12 shooting for a team-high 16 points, while Batts finished 5-8 for 12 points. Freeman went 4-8 for nine points. Otherwise, the visitors managed to manufacture points mostly from offensive rebounds and turnovers. NCSU scored 20 points off 15 Virginia turnovers and 14 second-chance points, though 10 of those came before halftime.
While those two categories helped State crack 50 points, it didn’t keep the scoreboard particularly close. Virginia led by double figures for the final 25:26. The smallest margin in the second half was 11 points with 8:05 to go, but Hall answered immediately with five quick points and the Hoos were really never threatened.
Much of the damage defensively came in the first seven minutes of each half. NC State managed just one field goal in the first 6:44 of the first half as the Cavaliers built an early 10-2 cushion. The return from intermission mirrored that start as NCSU made just one field goal in the first 6:30 of the second half. UVA grew its lead to 39-22 during that stretch.
“They are good,” Keatts said. “I know what everyone talks about is the Pack Line defense, but what makes them special is that they have at least three or four guys who are very good individual defenders. They do a good job of keeping you in front and then once you get by those guys, obviously, they do a tremendous job as a team.”
Virginia has done a tremendous job as a team through the early part of the ACC schedule too as it has created a 5-0 start in league play for the first time since the 2014-15 season. The Cavaliers have taken advantage of four home games in the early going, but they know that more challenges await. They’ll be on the road for the next two contests and five of the next seven, starting with a trip to Georgia Tech on Thursday.
UVA owns a 45-4 record at the John Paul Jones Arena in conference play over the last six seasons.
“Yeah, I actually said something today like, ‘We have a lot of home games this year,’” Guys said with a smile. “I think it is always good to capitalize when we have home court advantage. We do not like losing in front of our fans, so we keep pushing the pedal to the metal and keep doing what we do.”
