CHARLOTTESVILLE, V.A. — It’s no secret that NC State men’s basketball struggles with slow starts.
“We know that it’s unacceptable to the university, to our staff and to the fans,” sophomore guard Paul McNeil said. “We just gonna pick it back up and be better for Saturday against Notre Dame.”
Tonight, NC State (19-9, 10-5 ACC) fell behind early and never recovered during the 90-61 loss at No. 11 Virginia (25-3, 12-2 ACC). The Pack played like a team that lacks the talent to challenge the top teams in the conference. There’s no one player or individual that the loss can be blamed on — it was collective failure.
“We’re not ready to compete with the top of the league right now,” head coach Will Wade said. “That’s just a fact. Got our doors blown off twice by Virginia. Virginia’s a great team, give them credit, they’re better than us, they’re better than us at almost every spot.”
Missing 11 of its first 12 shots, the Wolfpack appeared lost and sluggish from the jump. Tossing up brick after brick, the Pack fell behind 15-5 early and never managed to claw back and tie things up. The quickest way to drop a game is to start ice cold and tonight the Wolfpack did exactly that.
“We didn’t move the ball,” Wade said. “We couldn’t get clean looks and the clean looks we got we didn’t hit. Some of our poor shots led to their transition baskets.”
Despite the immediate struggles, NC State hung around for the first 30 minutes of the game thanks to McNeil scoring 22 points. While his 3-point shot wasn’t there tonight, only making 3-of-12 from deep, McNeil found success driving inside. Scoring 13 points off layups and free throws, McNeil’s ability to adapt and get his points inside gave NC State enough life to stick around during the first half.
Defensively, NC State played inconsistent at best. While the Wolfpack held Virginia to 32 points in the first half, the Cavaliers exploded in the second half and dropped 58 points while shooting 70% from the floor. As the night wore on, UVA began to pick its spots and buried NC State with 24 fastbreak points and 12 made threes.
“We just gotta communicate more,” McNeil said. “Talk more and be more aggressive and that’s really it.”
The second half also saw the Pack hurt itself with fouls. Tempers flared early in the second half, sparking a fight. The resulting fallout was that senior center Scottie Ebube was ejected for clearing the bench, while senior forward Darrion Williams and UVA’s Sam Lewis were given technical fouls for their involvement in the incident.
“I was calling timeout and then whatever happened happened,” Wade said. “I didn’t get to see it, didn’t get a good look at it, so I was trying to get a timeout.”
All season, senior guard Quadir Copeland has been a key to the Pack’s success. Tonight however, Copeland quickly got into foul trouble and never found his rhythm, finishing with just three points.
“The way he played today, I don’t know if him being on the court much more would have helped us,” Wade said.
The Wolfpack has three more games remaining in the regular season. While the Pack has plenty of talent, the team lacks consistency. From blasting North Carolina 82-58 to falling by 29 on the road, the past week is a microcosm of NC State’s season.
“We just been up and down all year, this is kinda who we are,” Wade said. “When we’re bad, we’re really really bad. That’s just kinda who we’ve been.”
Next up, NC State will remain on the road for a trip to Notre Dame. Tipoff is set for Saturday Feb. 28 at 12 p.m. and will be available on the CW.
