Game predictions: Virginia at NC State

NC State Wolfpack basketball continues ACC play by hosting Virginia at 9 p.m. Wednesday evening at PNC Arena in Raleigh.

The Wolfpack (7-6, 3-5 ACC) will look for its first quad one victory. The big question is will fifth-year senior forward DJ Funderburk be available after he was a late scratch at Syracuse due to "university policy" issues.

The Wahoos (11-3, 7-1 ACC) are ranked No. 14 nationally and are coming off their first league loss, a 65-51 defeat at Virginia Tech that snapped the Cavaliers' seven-game winning streak.

Here are The Wolfpacker staff's game predictions for State's matchup with the Virginia Wednesday evening.

Say what you want about NC State's performance in the month of January, but since returning from a 10-day break due to COVID in the program in the middle of the month, the Wolfpack has shown plenty of fight.

The Pack had every reason to hang its head and put forth a lackluster performance Sunday in the Carrier Dome. NC State was without its two leading scorers, fifth-year senior guard Devon Daniels and fifth-year senior forward DJ Funderburk.

Daniels suffered a season-ending ACL tear against Wake Forest in the game prior and was the team's leader in scoring (16.5 ppg), assists (3.1 apg) and steals (1.7 spg).

Funderburk, who was the team's second-leading scorer entering Sunday averaging 11.9 points per game, was announced to be unavailable an hour before tipoff against Syracuse due to "university issues."

While it's possible Funderburk could return tonight, his availability is unknown.

Even without both of its top returning players from last year, NC State put forth its best half of the season in the opening 20 minutes against the Orange. The Wolfpack ultimately lost the game by going cold after halftime, but the performance was a promising sign that this team won't go down without a fight.

I expect that to be the case once again tonight. The Wolfpack may even have the lead at halftime at home in PNC Arena.

Ultimately, however, Virginia is just too balanced and presents too tough of a matchup to predict a NC State win tonight. I'll take the Cavaliers, but the Pack covers the 6.5-point spread.

Prediction: Virginia 70, NC State 65

Previous predictions:

ACC Game 1: NC State 79, UNC 75 (Actual: NC State 79-76)

ACC Game 2: NC State 87, Boston College 80 (Actual: NC State 79-76)

ACC Game 3: NC State 73, Clemson 71 (Actual: Clemson 74-70)

ACC Game 4: NC State 72, Miami 64 (Actual: Miami 64-59)

ACC Game 5: NC State 82, Florida State 77 (Actual: Florida State 105-73)

ACC Game 6: North Carolina 81, NC State 75 (Actual: UNC 86-76)

ACC Game 7: NC State 80, Wake Forest 71 (Actual: NC State 72-67)

ACC Game 8: NC State 75, Syracuse 72 (Actual: Syracuse 76-73)

There’s a part of me that thinks, maybe Virginia is about to hit a rough patch? Every team in the ACC has had them thus far, why should the Cavs be immune? It suffered a lopsided second half defeat in its loss at Virginia Tech over the weekend. Perhaps that’s an indicator of what’s to come.

Part of me thinks, maybe NC State is on the verge of a surprise or two before the realities of losing fifth-year senior guard Devon Daniels really hits. It played well at Syracuse, considering the circumstances, and probably deserved to win that game. Maybe that was the beginning of a string of good performances for the Wolfpack.

Part of me thinks, maybe fifth-year senior forward DJ Funderburk, after missing the loss at Syracuse, returns in glorious fashion and has his best performance of the year against a Virginia team in which Funderburk has enjoyed a bit of success against in the past. He had 14 points in the 53-51 win last season in Charlottesville. Before that, in the 2019 ACC Tournament, Funderburk was off to a hot start with 12 points before getting poked in the eye (accidentally).

Part of me thinks, considering the “Law of the Wolf,” which states that the Pack does best when expectations are low, and considering perhaps Virginia might not be at its best and NC State has a performance that it can build upon, could this not be a late-night surprise for the Wolfpack?

Then there’s a bigger part of me that realizes a 9 p.m. tipoff doesn’t seem to end well for NC State more times than not, and that Virginia is looking for payback after losing to the Wolfpack in Charlottesville a year ago.

I’m going with the Cavs in this one.

Prediction: Virginia 72, NC State 59

Previous predictions:

ACC Game 1: UNC 79, NC State 70 (Actual: NC State 79-76)

ACC Game 2: NC State 78, Boston College 66 (Actual: NC State 79-76)

ACC Game 3: Clemson 79, NC State 76 (Actual: Clemson 74-70)

ACC Game 4: NC State 79, Miami 76 (Actual: Miami 64-59)

ACC Game 5: Florida State 79, NC State 76 (Actual: Florida State 105-73)

ACC Game 6: North Carolina 79, NC State 76 (Actual: North Carolina 86-76)

ACC Game 7: NC State 77, Wake Forest 71 (Actual: NC State 72-67)

ACC Game 8: NC State 69, Syracuse 66 (Actual: Syracuse 76-73)

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