Turnovers and poor defense can pretty much sum up the Pack’s season this year. Both were extremely prevalent Tuesday night as the men’s basketball team dropped another ACC road game to the Virginia Cavaliers, 69-58.
Virginia shot a blazing 47.6 percent from behind the arch, connecting on 10 of 21 three-point shots, while shooting 39.6 percent from the field. Eight of the Cavaliers 10 three pointers game from just two players, forward Will Sherrill and guard Joe Harris who both finished with 14 and 19 points.
However, State’s defense didn’t necessarily put up an extraordinary performance as it gave the Cavs multiple wide-open looks. The turnover margin also killed the Pack as the team gave up the ball 15 times against a stingy Cavalier defense.
With the loss State drops to 15-14 (5-10 in ACC), while Virginia moves to 15-14 (6-9 in the ACC).
Senior guard Javier Gonzalez led the way for the Pack offensively, scoring 16 points. Freshman guard Lorenzo Brown and sophomore forward Scott Wood also chipped in nine points each, while sophomore Richard Howell pulled down 10 boards in the losing effort.
Constant double teams from the Virginia defense held shut down senior forward Tracy Smith as he was held relatively quite, scoring only 10 points on only four shots from the floor.
With Smith’s down game, sophomore center Jordan Vandenberg had an extended role as he played 22 minutes, scoring one point while bringing down three rebounds.
The Wahoos started out on fire as the team scored three point shots, building a quick 16-0 lead just five minutes into the game. Sophomore forward Scott Wood finally got the Pack on the board with a three pointer, simultaneously kicking off State’s own offensive run in which the Pack rolled off 11 straight, during a 17-2 run, putting the Pack right back into the game.
Sparking that run for the Pack was Gonzalez, who led the team at the half with nine points. With only two collegiate games remaining for Gonzalez, the senior guard looks to be taking advantage of his remaining time with the Pack.
The teams traded buckets back and forth in the reaming part of the half, with the Cavaliers leading by four, 32-28.
However, the Cavs opened up the second half with a 10-3 run to stretch its lead to 42-31.
State attempted to cut into the deficit, getting within six points late in the second half, but the Wolfpack defense couldn’t keep up with the Cavaliers’ hot shooting.
The Pack returns to action this Sunday at 6 p.m. against the Florida State Seminoles in the season finale. The team will recognize seniors Tracy Smith and Javier Gonzalez before the game.
