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The Plus/Minus: Virginia Exacts Revenge on NC State

Despite collapsing late in the second half and some crummy foul shooting in overtime, Virginia prevails over NC State 59-53

Val Prochaska

The Plus/Minus: Virginia Exacts Revenge on NC State
The Plus/Minus: Virginia Exacts Revenge on NC State /
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Virginia extended its nation-leading 21-game home winning streak and won its third-consecutive game overall, holding off NC State in overtime for a 59-53 win on Wednesday night at John Paul Jones Arena. Val has the Plus/Minus to break down what we saw from the Cavaliers in their revenge win over the Wolfpack. 

Plus

A win is a win is a win, even if it was an ugly win. That Casey Morsell and Ryan Dunn were game high scorers – with 13 points apiece – shows how awful the shooting was on the night. The two teams combined to hit 36% from the floor and 26% from deep. Actually, it feels more appropriate to say the teams missed 64% of their shots overall, and 74% of their threes. In other words, it was a typical Tony Bennett rock fight.

Plus

Both Virginia and NC State were dialed in defensively. There were no driving lanes, every entry pass was contested, and Isaac McKneely and D.J. Horne (who entered the game scoring 20 points in each of the last three games) were hounded all night. In the game’s first eight minutes, each team had forced a shot-clock violation. This was basketball for purists, 10 guys on the court, all moving their bodies. I don’t think there was a reach-in foul all night. In regulation, Virginia shot four free throws while NC State shot six.

Minus

Coach Tony Bennett said in at least two interviews this week that he wants Isaac McKneely to be more aggressive, even selfish, in seeking his shot. McKneely took that to heart as he attempted a career-high 16 shots. Unfortunately, he only connected on four them, going 2/9 from deep in the process.

Plus

The hero of the day was Taine Murray who grabbed 11 points in 19 minutes and had a ridiculous +19 box +/- in a six-point game. Murray went 2/2 from deep, including this one in overtime.

He had a huge rebound with 42 seconds left and the ball ping-ponging around in Virginia’s lane, and most importantly, after Dunn and Reece Beekman shot 2/5 from the line late in OT, Murray went 3/4 to seal the win. It was fitting that he had the assist to Dunn’s emphatic, game-ending slam.

Plus

Jordan Minor continues to impress. He was a beast on the boards and set the tone early:

Minor scored 10 points on 5/9 shooting and he had six offensive boards as Virginia had a 20 to 7 advantage on the offensive glass. Further, the Cavaliers outrebounded the Wolfpack 54-32 overall. We’ll have to wait for better opposition to see just how good a rebounding team Virginia is, but gone are the days of getting outrebounded by 20 boards. NC State man-mountain D.J. Burns scored 11 points, but it took him 12 shots to do it as Minor was able to guard him single-handedly.

The stars of this game were Minor and Murray, two guys who were basically after thoughts on opening night.

Read:  Matt's full game report.

Plus

Virginia had 13 offensive boards in the first half.

Minus

Virginia only got six points from those 13 boards. That’s a lot of misses at the rim.

Minus

Virginia’s ability to close out games is marred by really poor free-throw shooting. The Hoos already ranked 337 (out of 362 teams) at the pin stripe. Going 7/13 is only going to drag them down further. Beekman misses too many late in the game. The only person I want at the stripe with the game on the line is McKneely (88% this season) but he’s got to be the one to flash to the ball late when the opposition is fouling to stop the clock. He doesn’t; he lets Beekman bring it up, and that’s a mistake.

Plus

The first step that Virginia took, trying to salvage a season that was careening towards disaster, was to win on the road. Defeating Georgia Tech on the road? Check. The second step was to exact revenge on this NC State team that had blown them out less than two weeks ago. Check. The next step? Win five in a row. That would include beating a hapless Louisville team on the road and then welcoming Notre Dame to the JPJ for another rematch.

Game Highlights

Plus

That good ol’ song of Wahoowa….

Next Up: Virginia travels to Louisville, Saturday, January 27. Game time is 12 noon. Get ready now. This game is on the CW.

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Published
Val Prochaska
VAL PROCHASKA

Val graduated from the University of Virginia in the last millennium, back when writing one's senior thesis by hand was still a thing. He is a lifelong fan of the ACC, having chosen the Tobacco Road conference ahead of the Big East. Again, when that was still a thing. Val has covered Virginia men's basketball for seven years, first with HoosPlace and then with StreakingTheLawn, before joining us here at Virginia Cavaliers on SI in August of 2023, continuing to cover UVA men's basketball and also writing about women's soccer and women's basketball.

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