The No. 12 Virginia Tech Hokies took down the No. 23 NC State Wolfpack inside PNC Arena Saturday afternoon in a messy 47-24 game despite missing guard Justin Robinson with a foot injury. Robinson averages 14.4 points, 3.4 rebounds and 5.5 assists a game for the Hokies.
The 24 points scored by the Wolfpack (16-6, 4-5 ACC) were the lowest amount of points scored in a game by a ranked team in the shot-clock era. The Pack finished the game shooting 16.7 percent from the floor and 7.1 percent from 3-point range.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever been a part of a game where none of our guys played well,” head coach Kevin Keatts said. “We didn’t shoot the ball that well. I thought it would get better in the second half but obviously, it didn’t. It was one of those games where the ball didn’t go in and we didn’t play that great. We gotta learn from this and try to move on”
The story of the first half was complete sloppiness; the two teams combined for 13 turnovers with nine coming from the Hokies (18-3, 7-2 ACC) and only 34 total points scored. Both teams combined for 41 rebounds and there were more rebounds in the first half than there were points.
The Pack had four steals, two blocks and only four turnovers at the half and was unable to capitalize on any of its opportunities. The team shot 19 percent from the floor on 6-of-31 shooting with zero assists at the halfway mark. The team had eight offensive rebounds and was still down six at the half.
Through the first seven minutes there were only four total points scored, before an open Isaiah Wilkins 3-pointer. The Wolfpack started seven percent from the floor and zero percent from 3. The Pack had zero points in eight and a half minutes before a Jericole Hellems lay-in. One particular sequence stood out where the Pack could not buy a bucket; NC State missed five shots after multiple second chances and offensive rebounds.
“At halftime I told them ‘relax,’ and ‘let’s laugh a little bit,’” Keatts said. “‘It’s 20 to 14.’ I said, ‘I don’t think Virginia Tech ever thought they were going to score just 20 points in a half and we know we didn’t think we were going to score 14. So just relax a bit and go back out there and play.’”
The second half did not fare any better for the Pack as it again shot only seven percent from 3-point range and scored only 10 points in total. The Pack was outscored 27-10 in the second half, and only had two assists in the entire game. Keatts was forced to call two timeouts in the first six minutes of the second half after the Hokies went on a 13-5 run to start the half sparked by forward Kerry Blackshear Jr.
“We’d be lying to ourselves if we said effort wasn’t a factor,” Walker said. “I don’t know if it’s because guys aren’t used to being in that situation where we aren’t making shots; I’m not sure where to pin-point it but the effort was definitely lacking down the stretch.”
Blackshear and guard Nickeal Alexander-Walker scored a combined 24 points, which equalled NC State’s game point total. The Hokies only had six players play more than five minutes in the rotation, while the Pack utilized nine different players.
The Hokies went down another player after Blackshear went down and into the locker room with around 11 minutes left in the half, putting the Hokies down four total players for the game before Blackshear returned.
The Pack had 36 total rebounds, 12 more rebounds than points, and the leading rebounder for the team, graduate forward Wyatt Walker, had 12 rebounds, while leading scorer redshirt junior C.J. Bryce had seven points.
“It’s just embarrassing,” Walker said. “There’s still opportunities where a guy can pass an extra pass and get an open shot, or get an offensive rebound or get a stop. It felt like nothing could go in but you can’t blame [the loss] on that.”
The Pack is shooting 18 for 78 or 23 percent in its last three games, an area that the team must improve if the team is to compete against the next few opponents on the schedule, including No. 9 UNC-Chapel Hill and No. 2 Duke. After playing No. 3 Virginia so closely, NC State has to go back to the drawing board.
“It’s very frustrating,” Bryce said. “You can be at the top of the world one day and at the bottom the next. We’re going to keep our confidence as a team, we still believe in each other, we’re just ready for the next game.”
The Wolfpack will next face No. 9 UNC-Chapel Hill inside the Dean Smith Center on Tuesday at 8 p.m.
Redshirt sophomore Devin Daniels defends Virginia Tech guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker on Saturday, Feb. 2 at PNC Arena. The Wolfpack lost 47-24.
