Courtesy of The Daily Cavalier
N.C. State’s road woes in league play continued as the Wolfpack (16-5, 5-3) lost its third straight ACC road game 58-55 to the University of Virginia (15-5, 5-2) in a pivotal conference matchup at the John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, Va.
State is the only team in the ACC to never win a game in John Paul Jones Arena.
“When we’ve been on the road it seems like it turns into a rugby match,” N.C. State head coach Mark Gottfried said. “We have got to be better at handling that.”
Junior forward C.J. Leslie paced the Wolfpack, tallying 20 points and 14 rebounds. The Holly Springs native did not start the game due to flu-like symptoms.
“I thought he fought through it and played well,” Gottfried said. “I give him a lot of credit because he has been pretty sick.”
The Wolfpack jumped out to a quick lead and kept it until junior guard Lorenzo Brown injured his left ankle with 10:29 remaining in the first half. Brown did not return to the game and his status for the Pack’s home game against ACC-leaders Miami on Saturday is unclear.
“I think it will be a couple days before we have any idea if he will play against Miami this weekend,” Gottfried said. “He wanted to play, tried to play.”
Virginia head coach Tony Bennett acknowledged Brown’s importance to State’s success.
“I am also aware that they lost perhaps the best guard in the league in Brown,” Bennett said. “We still had to make plays, and we persevered… I am thankful for the win.”
Senior forward Richard Howell was the only other player for N.C. State to score in double figures with 12 points to go with 11 rebounds.
The Wolfpack, who led the nation in field goal percentage for much of the season, shot only 37.7 percent (20-53) on the evening.
Junior guard Joe Harris led the Wahoos with 22 points and 4 rebounds. Junior forward Akil Mitchell had a double-double, tallying 14 points and 12 rebounds, while freshman center Mike Tobey came off the bench and spurred the Cavs with 13 points and seven rebounds, energizing the crowd several times during the contest.
“Coach (Bennett) has been telling us all week that these guys aren’t that much better than us,” Tobey said. “They’re pretty tall, but being a seven-footer, I definitely have an advantage.”
Things started off well for N.C. State in the first half. The Pack jumped to an early 17-7 lead in the opening 11 minutes and was ahead of the Cavaliers the entire first half.
Virginia methodically came back, and took its first lead of the game at 38-37 on a Tobey jumper with 12:27 remaining in the game.
The contest slogged back and forth and after a Howell layup with 6:48 left to play, the Pack held a 49-45 lead.
The Cavaliers once again seized the advantage when Harris hit three free throws after being fouled by freshman TJ Warren behind the arch.
Senior forward Scott Wood responded with a three-pointer to tie the score at 54 with 4:22 on the clock.
Mitchell then hit a jumper to give Virginia the lead for good on the next possession.
The Pack still had a chance to tie on the final play but Wood air-balled the potential game tying three-pointer. The ‘Hoos grabbed the rebound as the clock ran out, sending the Cavalier faithful into ecstasy.
In the last 20 years, State is 1-14 in games following a win over Duke or UNC-Chapel Hill.