NC State poured it out in crushing Virginia on Saturday at PNC Arena.
Neither the snow or cold temperatures had any affect in how hot NC State shot the ball against the visiting Cavaliers. NC State rolled to a 77-63 win over Virginia, and shot a blistering 12 of 22 from three-point land for 54.5 percent. Even that was a little skewed with two misses in garbage time. The Wolfpack defeated the Cavaliers at home for the first time since Feb. 21, 2009.
NC State improved to 10-10 overall and 3-6 in the ACC. Snapping a two-game losing streak will give NC State some momentum with back-to-back road games coming up at Notre Dame on Wednesday and at North Carolina on Jan. 29.
“I’m excited about the way our guys played,” NCSU coach Kevin Keatts said. “What I’m excited about is that we played well on both ends of the floor. We did a good job defensively, finishing the first half.
“We talked coming into the game how elite Virginia is defensively. In order to win the game, we got to kind of beat them at their own game.”
NC State was able to avoid a pair of trends — Virginia’s centers combined for 10 points and 12 rebounds and there wasn’t any drama in the last five minutes.
“With these guys, I planned it more in playing four-minute segments,” Keatts said. “Every time we get to a [television] timeout, we are doing it in a four-minute segment. I thought we were locked in. We came out of the locker room very focused and went on a nice run, and that helped us get over the hump.”
NC State started off innocently enough, but then freshman shooting guard Terquavion Smith got hot. He scored 11 straight points, and then it became senior power forward Jericole Hellems’ turn. It led to a devastating 25-6 run.
Hellems made five three-pointer’s in the last 10 minutes, 24 seconds of the half. He beat the halftime buzzer with a deep one from beyond the arc and NC State had a comfortable 43-32 lead over Virginia.
The one-two punch of Smith and Hellems combined for 31 points and 9 of 12 from three-point land in the first half. NCSU shot a blistering 65.4 percent from the field and 9 of 14 on three-pointers.
“We knew they would have hard close outs, so it will be a three or a rip drive,” Smith said. “Coach was preaching that to us.”
The second half was plenty of the same from Hellems and Smith, with redshirt sophomore guard Dereon Seabron mixed in. Hellems and Smith finished the game with 41 points and shot 9 of 16 on three-pointers.
“[Hellems] played as a senior today,” Keatts said. “He and I talked about that. He has to be the steady guy.
“He has to be the calming affect and he was.”
Seabron finished with 13 points, six rebounds and five assists as a versatile point guard.
NC State junior shooting guard Casey Morsell, a Virginia transfer, got the start and added 12 points, seven rebounds and he went 2 of 3 from beyond the arc in 29 minutes.
“We know we can compete with anybody in the country offensively, but we just have to bring it defensively,” Morsell said. “A lot of games have come down to the wire. We’ve been in a lot of situations where we let games slip away. It was just about to keep going. We know UVA is the kind of team that wasn’t going to quit.”
Keatts said he hopes people won’t criticize his injury-riddled roster and see that the future is bright, especially when his class of 2021 grows up together. NCSU lost redshirt junior center Manny Bates in the season opener and freshman post player Ernest Ross was lost three games ago, and he underwent successful ankle surgery. Junior power forward Greg Gantt has yet to play a game this season.
“I’m super proud of our guys because they’ve caught a lot of flak, which I don’t understand for such a young team and a lot of injuries,” Keatts said. “Our young guys – [freshman] Terquavion Smith, Breon Pass and Ernest Ross — that class will be really good here and will be fun to watch. I’m excited for those guys.”
Indiana transfer Armaan Franklin led UVA with 14 points and went 4 of 7 from three-point range. The Cavaliers fell to 11-8 overall and 5-4 in the ACC. Opponents had shot 34.3 percent from three-point land entering the game against UVA.
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