David Tracey
Redshirt senior guard C.J. Bryce smiles heading into a timeout against Miami on Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2020 at PNC Arena. Bryce recorded six points and five assists in his first game back from injury as the Wolfpack won 80-63.
With a win over Clemson Saturday afternoon, the NC State men’s basketball team picked up back-to-back ACC wins for the first time this season. While a two-game winning streak to get to 4-3 in conference play is a decent spot to be in, the Pack has a fantastic chance to pick up a quality win against Virginia on Monday night. With a win, the Pack would be on a three-game ACC winning streak, something the team has not done in quite a while.
In fact, the Pack has not won three games consecutively in ACC play since Kevin Keatts’s first year in Raleigh, when it reeled off four consecutive wins against Syracuse, Wake Forest, Boston College and Florida State.
A win in Charlottesville, Virginia never comes easy, especially against the Cavaliers squad, coached by Tony Bennett. However, coming off a national championship run, this 2020 Virginia team is struggling at the moment. Before a victory over Georgia Tech in Atlanta on Monday night, Virginia dropped three games in a row.
The problem for the Pack is that all but one of those games on that streak took place on the road for the Cavaliers. Charlottesville is a place where Virginia plays its best basketball, as UVa is 10-2 at home this year.
If Kevin Keatts and the Pack find a way to win Monday night, then they are defying the historical narrative of NC State’s struggles with playing in Virginia in the last couple of decades.
To find the last time the Pack won in Charlottesville, you would have to look back to March of 2005. Then-head coach Herb Sendek and star Cedric Simmons returned to Raleigh with a comfortable 82-72 victory.
Now, NC State is on its fourth head coach since that game was played, a stat very telling of the state of the program over the last few seasons.
Interestingly enough, while Kevin Keatts has had a good level of success against the ACC in his first three seasons, the two teams he has not beat come from his home state of Virginia.
While Keatts and the Pack fell short against Virginia Tech, they have a favorable chance to walk out of John Paul Arena with a Q1 win in the NET rankings and to also break an eight-game losing streak to the Cavaliers.
It’s widely known that Tony Bennett’s squads play a tight defensive brand of basketball, although unfortunately for the Cavaliers, their offense is what is really struggling this year. So far, the Virginia offense is ranked 240th in the country.
If the Pack is able to come out, hit their outside shots and run the floor, they should be able to take control of this game.
While the defense will not be as big of an issue in this one, NC State will still have to limit the Hoos’ biggest scorer, senior forward Mamadi Diakiti, who is averaging over 13 points a game. It will be up to the Pack’s big men to stop the 6-foot-9 big man out of Greece.
Whether or not redshirt freshman Manny Bates will be able to play after suffering a neck injury in the Clemson game will have a huge impact on this matchup.
There are tournament implications at stake for both teams, and while a loss will not sink either one, both squads are trying to put themselves in the best position come March.