Improving NC State defense matches up with the best in road trip to Virginia
N.C. State found its defense in a pair of ACC home wins last week.
Now the Wolfpack and coach Kevin Keatts will try to build off of that to do something it has never done before: Win at Virginia’s John Paul Jones Arena.
N.C. State (13-5, 4-3 ACC) travels to Virginia (12-5, 4-3) on Monday night looking for its first road win over the Cavaliers since March 2005.
JPJA opened the next season and the Wolfpack has lost all eight games there. Beating Virginia and Tony Bennett anywhere has been a problem for N.C. State. The Wahoos have won eight straight against the Wolfpack since a loss in the 2013 ACC tournament.
That N.C. State might be short-handed, again, for Monday’s game doesn’t help the Wolfpack’s cause. N.C. State has had its full lineup for two of seven ACC games this season. Freshman forward Manny Bates and forward Pat Andree were injured in Saturday’s 60-54 win over Clemson.
Keatts did not have an update on the status of either player Sunday. Andree suffered an ankle injury later in the second half. Bates went down midway through the first half after he got tangled up with Clemson forward Aamir Simms. Medical personnel tended to Bates, who appeared to get hit in the neck and head.
N.C. State has already had two players suffer a concussion this season. Senior guard C.J. Bryce missed four games after he received one in a pre-game practice Dec. 29.
Bates has started every game this season and leads the ACC with 2.9 blocks per game. Andree averages 6.5 points off the bench.
The quick trip to Charlottesville, Va., comes after N.C. State was able to beat Miami, 80-63, at home Wednesday, and Saturday’s win over the Tigers.
In the first five ACC games, N.C. State allowed an average of 77.0 points per game. With Bryce back in the lineup and guard Devon Daniels turning up his defensive intensity, N.C. State has shrunk the points allowed down to an average of 58.5 the past two games.
Virginia is not the same team who won the 2019 national title on offense, but on defense, the Cavaliers are as tough as usual. They rank second in KenPom’s adjusted defensive efficiency and lead the NCAA in scoring defense (49.5 points per game).
“They’ve always been one of the best defensive teams in the country,” Keatts said. “We’ve got to try to take one day to figure out how to score against those guys.”
With Ty Jerome, Kyle Guy and Deandre Hunter off to the NBA, Virginia has struggled to find a scoring groove. Forward Mamadi Diakite has upped his offensive game (13.4 ppg) but injuries have slowed wing Braxton Key (10.4 ppg) and none of the new guards have been able to step in for the outstanding backcourt duo of Jerome and Guy.
Virginia had lost three straight ACC games — to Boston College, Syracuse and Florida State — before picking up a road win at Georgia Tech (63-58) on Saturday.
N.C. State has had some exposure to defenses like Virginia’s “Pack line” scheme but Keatts noted that only helps so much.
“Nobody’s defense is as tough as Virginia’s, especially at Virginia,” he said.
Keatts has an 0-3 mark against the Cavaliers, including a 66-65 overtime loss in Raleigh last season, which was one of N.C. State’s best chances at a quality win to impress the NCAA tournament selection committee.
This road game at Virginia, at No. 60 in the NET rankings, qualifies as a “Quadrant 1” game for the Wolfpack.
NC State at Virginia
When: Monday, 7 p.m.
Where: John Paul Jones Arena, Charlottesville, Va.
Watch: ESPN
Listen: Raleigh: 101.5-FM | Charlotte: 95.7-FM
NC State (13-5, 4-3 ACC)
G Markell Johnson 13.1 ppg, 6.7 apg
G Devon Daniels 11.2 ppg, 4.7 rpg
G C.J. Bryce 15.0 ppg, 6.6 rpg
F Jericole Hellems 9.9 ppg, 3.7 rpg
F D.J. Funderburk 13.1 ppg, 6.0 rpg
Virginia (12-5, 4-3 ACC)
G Kihei Clark 9.8 ppg, 5.9 apg
G Tomas Woldetensae 4.8 ppg, 2.1 rpg
G Braxton Key 10.4 ppg, 7.1 rpg
F Mamadi Diakite 13.4 ppg, 6.8 rpg
F Jay Huff 9.1 ppg, 6.2 rpg
This story was originally published January 19, 2020 at 3:23 PM with the headline "Improving NC State defense matches up with the best in road trip to Virginia."
