RALEIGH, NC - No. 14 Virginia (11-3, 7-1 ACC) travels to NC State (7-6, 3-5 ACC) for an ACC contest on Wednesday, Feb. 3. Tipoff at PNC Arena is set for 9 p.m. on ACC Network and Virginia Sports Radio Network.
BOTTOM LINE: No. 14 Virginia presents a tough challenge for North Carolina State. North Carolina State has won one of its two games against ranked opponents this season. Virginia fell short in a 65-51 game at Virginia Tech on Saturday.
SAVVY VETERANS: Both of these teams have depended heavily on their seniors this year. Devon Daniels, Jericole Hellems, D.J. Funderburk and Thomas Allen have collectively accounted for 57 percent of North Carolina State’s scoring this season. For Virginia, Sam Hauser, Jay Huff and Trey Murphy III have scored 55 percent of the team’s points this season, including 68 percent of all Cavaliers points over their last five.SOLID SAM: Hauser has connected on 42 percent of the 81 3-pointers he’s attempted and has gone 13 for 25 over the last three games. He’s also made 73.3 percent of his free throws this season.
WINNING WHEN: North Carolina State is a sterling 5-0 when its defense holds opponents to a field goal percentage of 44.3 percent or less. The Wolfpack are 2-6 when they allow opponents to shoot any better than that.
ASSIST RATIOS: The Cavaliers have recently gotten buckets via assists more often than the Pack. North Carolina State has 40 assists on 81 field goals (49.4 percent) over its past three matchups while Virginia has assists on 46 of 73 field goals (63 percent) during its past three games.
DID YOU KNOW: The disruptive North Carolina State defense has forced opponents to turn the ball over on 23.8 percent of all possessions, the 19th-best rate among Division I teams. Virginia has a forced-turnover percentage of only 16.4 percent through 14 games (ranking the Cavaliers 317th).
