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Sports

Cavs continue run in showdown with Wolfpack

By Sports Network
Published | Updated

Charlottesville, VA (SportsNetwork.com) - The third-ranked Virginia Cavaliers will try to remain unbeaten as they entertain the 11-4 NC State Wolfpack on Wednesday evening at John Paul Jones Arena in an Atlantic Coast Conference matchup.

The Cavaliers remained at No. 3 in the nation after receiving a scare from Miami-Florida, in which the Hurricanes took the Cavs to double overtime. Virginia walked away from that contest with an 89-80 victory to improve to 13-0 on the season, with a 7-0 mark on its home floor.

NC State started the season off strong, running to a 6-0 record before a loss at Purdue derailed the team's unblemished record. The Wolfpack have won two of their last three games coming into this match, with a 68-50 victory over Pittsburgh helping the team get to 2-0 in the ACC.

NC State holds an 82-60 all-time series lead over Virginia, although the Cavaliers own a 38-23 mark in Charlottesville. The two sides met once last season, which saw Virginia come away with a 76-45 victory.

Trevor Lacey and Ralston Turner took over for NC State in the team's 18-point clobbering of Pittsburgh on Saturday. The Wolfpack as a unit connected on 51.9 percent of their shots from the floor, and held the Panthers to a 32.7 percent mark defensively. Lacey, an Alabama transfer, scored 19 points to lead NC State, while Turner chipped in with 16 points and hit on 4-of-9 from 3-point distance. Lennard Freeman grabbed a team-high nine rebounds in the win.

The Wolfpack have played just one game away from home this season, which resulted in the 66-61 loss to Purdue. Lacey leads NC State in scoring this season by netting 17.2 ppg on 50.6 percent shooting from the field. Turner, chips in with 13.1 ppg, and Anthony Barber adds 12.2 ppg with a team-best 53 assists. Freeman collects the most rebounds for the Wolfpack per outing, averaging 6.9 rpg. NC State will try to employ an offense that averages 72.8 ppg against the Cavs, who have one of the best scoring defenses in the country.

The 80 points Miami scored against Virginia on Saturday is the highest single- game total by an opponent playing against the Cavs this season, and that took two extra sessions to get there. The Cavaliers held on in the two overtime periods thanks to 44.4 percent shooting and a 17-of-21 mark from the free- throw line that kept the Hurricanes at bay. London Perrantes scored 26 points to pace Virginia, also adding in eight assists and an 11-of-12 mark from the charity stripe to his stat line. Justin Anderson netted 16 points, and Mike Tobey scored 14 in the two-OT thriller.

The scoring defense for the Cavs is notorious in college basketball. Headed into Wednesday's clash, Virginia is allowing just 50.8 ppg to opponents this season on 33.3 percent shooting from the floor. The 50.8 ppg surrendered is second in the nation only to Kentucky. Meanwhile, Virginia is able to bury its prey with a 72.0 ppg average on 48.9 percent shooting. Anderson leads the squad with 15.1 ppg, while Malcolm Brogdon (12.9 ppg) and Anthony Gill (12.6 ppg) round out a trio of double-digit scorers this season for the Cavs. Gill (7.1 rpg) tops the squad in rebounding, while Perrantes (54 assists) has dished out the most helpers for Virginia.