NC State Wolfpack basketball (10-9, 6-8 ACC) continues conference play Wednesday night at No. 15 Virginia in John Paul Jones Arena at 6:30 p.m. on ACC Network.

The Cavaliers are 15-5 (11-3 ACC) under head coach Tony Bennett in his 11th season with the program. Virginia is coming off of a two-game losing streak and suffered a 66-65 road loss to Duke in its most recent game.

The Pack enters the game on a two-game win streak. NC State defeated Wake Forest 80-62 in Winston-Salem Saturday.

Wednesday will mark the second meeting between the two schools this season. The Cavaliers won the first game in Raleigh 64-57.

Here is the scouting report on Virginia:

Virginia may have been written off too early this season. The Cavaliers lost their second game of the season 61-60 to San Francisco on a neutral floor and were destroyed 98-75 by No. 1 Gonzaga one month later on Dec. 26.

After the 23-point loss to the Zags, however, UVA won 11 of its next 12 games.

The Cavaliers, however, are recently coming off of a two-game losing streak which included road losses to Florida State and Virginia last week.

Virginia was projected to finish first in the conference in the preseason ACC media poll.

Virginia is ranked No. 9 in the NET rankings (NC State is No. 80), which makes Wednesday's contest a "quad one" game for the Pack, one of two remaining on the Wolfpack's schedule.

ESPN’s College Basketball Power Index (BPI) has the Cavaliers ranked No. 8 (NC State is No. 53), and KenPom.com has UVA ranked No. 9 (NC State is No. 71).

Virginia is also ranked No. 9 in the old RPI formula used by the NCAA — according to RealTimeRPI.com.

Statistically, Virginia has one of the best offenses in the ACC, and it starts with its shooting.

The Cavaliers have an adjusted offensive efficiency of 116.5 (points per 100 possessions), which ranks third in the conference and 13th nationally according to KenPom.

The Hoos also have an effective field goal percentage, which adds weighted value to three-point efficiency, of 57.3, which ranks third among Division I teams. The Cavs shoot 55.4 percent on two-point attempts and 40 percent from the perimeter, good for 26th and fifth nationally, respectively.

UVA is also a great free-throw shooting team. Virginia has made 78.9 percent of its attempts from the strike, which ranks 13th in the country.

If there's one weakness in the Cavaliers' offense, it's their ability to get to the free-throw line. Despite the efficiency from the line, UVA averages just 11.6 free-throw attempts per game, which ranks 347th nationally.

Advantage: Virginia

Because Virginia tries to slow down the pace of the game, the Cavaliers' 31.5 rebounds per contest doesn't jump off the page, but the Hoos are efficient on the glass, particularly on the defensive end.

While UVA collects an offensive rebound on just 22 percent of its misses, which ranks 318th nationally, the Cavs hold opponents to an offensive rebound on just 21.9 percent of forced misses while on defense, good for 10th among Division I teams.

Advantage: Virginia

While Virginia's defense hasn't been on par with years past statistically — the Cavs have ranked top 10 nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency every season since 2013 according to KenPom — UVA is still an elite defensive team.

The Cavaliers have an adjusted defensive efficiency of 91.9 (points per 100 possessions) this season according to KenPom, which ranks third in the ACC and 23rd among Division I teams.

Virginia has a defensive two-point field goal percentage of 46.9, good for 80th nationally, but a defensive three-point percentage of 33.9, which ranks just 186th among Division I teams.

The Cavaliers also allow a lot of attempts from beyond the arc. UVA's opponents have shot 38.7 percent of their field goal attempts from the perimeter, which ranks 216th in the country.

The Hoos also have a team block percentage of 12.1, which ranks 34th nationally.

Advantage: Virginia

Virginia has seven players that average at least double-digit minutes per game and just five of them average 16.5 minutes per contest or more.

Only 21.8 percent of the Cavaliers' total minutes this year have come off the bench, which ranks 324th nationally.

If NC State redshirt junior guard Thomas Allen is still unavailable Wednesday due to an ankle sprain, the Wolfpack will likely play seven-deep. Even though the personnel numbers between the two teams are comparable, the Pack has consistently been able to get more production from its reserves in ACC play.

Advantage: NC State

Senior forward Sam Hauser was among the most-anticipated transfers to watch entering this season. So far, he's lived up to the hype.

Hauser is Virginia's team leader in scoring and rebounding. He averages 15.1 points and 7.1 rebounds per game.

The 6-8, 218-pounder also produces 1.9 assists per contest, which is third-best on the team.

The Marquette transfer is a small-ball four that can absolutely light it up from the perimeter. He's shooting 44.4 percent on three-point attempts and has a 58.2 field goal percentage this season.

In the first meeting against the Wolfpack, Hauser had 18 points on 5-of-11 shooting along with five rebounds and one assist.

400 Days have passed since Virginia's last loss at home. The Cavaliers have lost just four home ACC games in John Paul Jones Arena in the last four seasons, including this year. Coincidentally, NC State was the last team to defeat the Hoos in Charlottesville. The Wolfpack beat UVA 53-51 on Jan. 20, 2020.

5 Virginia players are originally from the Triangle. Starters Jay Huff and Trey Murphy are both from Durham. Huff played at Voyager Academy while Murphy played at Cary Academy. Sophomore forward Justin McKoy, who was an NC State target in the 2019 class, is from Cary and attended Panther Creek High in Wake County. Freshman guard Kadi Shedrick's hometown is listed as Raleigh, and he competed at Holly Springs High. Freshman guard Carson McCorkle was teammates with NC State freshman guard Cam Hayes at Greensboro Day School, but McCorkle is originally from Raleigh and attended Broughton High as a freshman in high school.

1-4 Is head coach Kevin Keatts' record against Virginia during his time with the Wolfpack. Virginia won the first meeting between the two teams this season 64-57 in Raleigh.

NC State

G — 3 Cam Hayes (6-3, 175, Fr., 6.7 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 3.5 apg)

G — 1 Dereon Seabron (6-7, 180, Fr., 4.4 ppg, 2.7 apg, 0.7 spg)

F — 4 Jericole Hellems (6-7, 205, Jr., 13.3 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 1.4 apg)

F — 0 DJ Funderburk (6-10, 225, 5th-Sr., 12.1 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 2.5 orpg)

C — 15 Manny Bates (6-11, 230, R-So., 9.6 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 2.8 bpg)

Virginia

G – 0 Kihei Clark (5-9, 160, Jr., 10.2 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 4.5 apg)

G – 2 Reece Beekman (6-3, 174, Fr. 4.9 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 2.9 apg)

G – 25 Trey Murphy (6-9, 206, Jr., 11.2 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 1.3 apg)

F – 10 Sam Hauser (6-8, 218, Sr., 15.1 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 1.9 apg)

F –30 Jay Huff (7-1, 240, Sr., 13.3 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 1.1 apg)

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