NC State jumps out early for big road win at No. 15 Virginia 68-61

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va -- DJ Funderburk scored nine of his 14 points in the second half and North Carolina State opened a big lead and held off No. 15 Virginia 68-61 on Wednesday night for its fourth straight Atlantic Coast Conference road victory.

Cam Hayes led the Wolfpack with 16 points and Shakeel Moore had 12 for N.C. State (11-9, 7-8 ACC), which last won four in a row on the road in the last two games of 1980-81 season and the first two the following season.

Sam Hauser led Virginia with 21 points and Jay Huff had 19 points and 11 rebounds, but the Cavaliers (15-6, 11-4) lost their third straight for the first time since the 2016-17 season. They were outscored 30-16 in the paint, 17-6 off the bench and led for just 48 seconds.

The Cavaliers twice closed within five, the second time at 54-49 on Hauser's third 3-pointer with 3:40 left, but Hayes barely beat the shot clock and banked in a desperation 3-pointer from the top of the key to push the lead back to eight.

Two free throws by Huff made it 57-53, and back-to-back 3s by Hauser brought them within 65-61 with 18 seconds left. But Dereon Seabron hit a free throw and Hayes hit two more to finish it off. NC State made 15 of its last 17 free-throw attempts.

The Wolfpack led 17-4 after nine minutes, but Virginia used a 13-4 run to close within 25-21 two minutes before halftime. The Cavaliers took their first lead at 35-33 on two free throws by Huff with 14:31 remaining, capping a 12-4 spurt that started with consecutive 3-pointers by Hauser from in front of the Cavaliers' bench.

But N.C. State steadied itself, getting four points each from Manny Bates and Moore and a 3-pointer from Braxton Beverly as it scored 12 of the next 14 points.

The Cavaliers twice closed within five, the second time at 54-49 on Hauser's third 3-pointer with 3:40 left, but Hayes barely beat the shot clock and banked in a desperation 3-pointer from the top of the key to push the lead back to eight.

BIG PICTURE

N.C. State: The Wolfpack are not known for being a lock-down defensive team, but for much of the first half, they combined smothering defense with hot shooting. N.C. State hit 9 of its first 13 shots in opening a 21-10 lead, but made just 3 of 12 the rest of the half.

Virginia: Facing a Wolfpack defense that was on them like Florida State had been in the Seminoles' 81-60 victory on Feb. 15, the Cavaliers trailed 17-4 after nine minutes and hit just five of their first 20 shots before getting a few to fall to close within 29-23 by halftime. They were 10 for 27 in the first half, 37%.

UP NEXT

The Wolfpack returns home to face Pittsburgh on Sunday.

The Cavaliers remain at home and will face Miami on Monday night.