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Sports

Wolfpack Comeback Effort Falls Short Against VT

Graham Kalish

RALEIGH, N.C.,  — The Virginia Tech Hokies dominated the NC State Wolfpack 62-59 in a hard-fought game in Raleigh at the PNC Arena on Wednesday night. 

Virginia Tech scored the first 15 points of the game and held a 19-2 lead 10 minutes into the game. NC State settled in and got within 10, 23-13, on a Dereon Seabron three-point play, but Virginia Tech responded with an 8-0 run to take its largest lead of the game, 31-13, with 2:32 left in the half.

Dereon Serbron had the ball in the final seconds for NC State, down three, but lost his dribble and was unable to convert on the last-second three-pointer. 

NC State trailed the entire game after Virginia Tech started on a 15-0 run. The Wolfpack stayed in the 2-3 zone for most of the game, allowing dribble penetration and perimeter shooting to come easy for the Hokies. 

NC State relied on the pick and roll offense, which was not working, and had difficulty finding open looks. They settled for contested jumpers and were unable to find the bottom of the basket for most of the first half. 

The Pack closed the half on an 8-4 run to cut the deficit to 35-21 at the break.

NC State came out of the halftime locker room and immediately made a dent in the deficit.

Terquavion Smith made a three on the Pack’s first possession and then made another three-pointer a few minutes later as the Pack outscored Virginia Tech 13-5 in the first four-and-a-half minutes to get within 40-34.

On the other hand, Virginia Tech had great team chemistry. Their ball movement was impeccable, beating State’s zone rotation and finding open looks, either inside or outside, without settling. 

The Hokies again had a response, scoring the next five to stretch the lead back out to seven. The Pack again had a run in it as Dereon Seabron scored the game’s next six points to get within one, 60-59, with 21 seconds to play, but the Hokies made both free throws to push the lead out to three and Smith’s jumper at the end of the game was short.

Hellems led NC State with 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting. Smith added 14 points and Seabron finished with 13 points. Casey Morsell had 11 points and three steals off-the-bench.

Virginia Tech outscored the Pack 34-22 in the paint as the Hokies’ forwards Keve Aluma (10pts/11reb) and Justyn Mutts (13pts/9 reb) combined to score 23 points on 11-of-15 shooting and grabbed 20 rebounds.

When State finally switched to a man-to-man defense, they were able to generate enough turnovers and steals to give them a fighting chance. But Virginia Tech’s defense proved too tough to overcome and the Wolfpack floundered their last possession. 

NC State is back in action Saturday when it hosts Virginia inside PNC Arena. Tipoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. and the game will be televised on the ACC Network.