North Carolina State is riding a bit of a high while No. 21 Virginia is in a rare regrouping mode as the teams face off on Saturday in Raleigh, N.C.
“We are getting more comfortable with each other and playing much harder,” Wolfpack guard Quadir Copeland said. “We play like everyone is against us, and we love that mentality.”
NC State (10-4, 1-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) beat visiting Wake Forest 70-57 on Wednesday, a result that was the Wolfpack’s second-best defensive outing in terms of points allowed.
Virginia (11-2, 0-1) had a more taxing outing in its ACC opener, falling 95-85 in three overtimes at Virginia Tech on Wednesday. That outcome snapped the Cavaliers’ six-game winning streak.
“We’ll learn from this,” first-year Virginia coach Ryan Odom said. “We’ll go back and get ready. It’s hard to win on the road.”
The Cavaliers were given a reminder that the margin for error is narrow in league play.
“Our guys understand that,” Odom said. “You have to execute. … We don’t have that many shared experiences, so this certainly could be one that hopefully will be beneficial for us.”
NC State forward Ven-Allen Lubin, who played last season for North Carolina, cautioned against becoming too excited about one good result in ACC play.
“We are just trying to get our guys prepared to understand the energy and intensity it takes to play in this conference,” Lubin said. “We have to stick together, stay focused, stay locked in and finish, because it is going to be a long season. Conference play is not easy, but I know what we are capable of.”
NC State will attempt to post its first triumph against a ranked opponent this season. The Wolfpack lost to Auburn and Kansas previously.
“It’s a really big opportunity for us, having the chance to get back on the page that we were at (when we were ranked earlier this season) and just enjoy the moment,” Copeland said. “Of course, being ready to move on and understand that we are going to recover and get ready to go get that one.”
Even with his team on a three-game winning streak, first-year NC State coach Will Wade expressed his anger with persistent questions about the level of production the Wolfpack are getting from Darrion Williams. The Preseason ACC Player of the Year has reached a double-figure point total only once in the past five games.
“I’m tired of hearing about Darrion,” Wade said. “He’s playing well. That’s a terrible question. He affects winning, and everybody is out here (complaining) about him.”
Williams hasn’t led NC State in scoring in any of the past eight games. Wade pointed to Williams’ six rebounds, four assists and zero turnovers in the Wake Forest game (to go along with eight points) as part of making a positive impact.
Meanwhile, Virginia might have uncovered another source of offense, as guard Malik Thomas led the team in scoring for the second time this season by pouring in a season-high 26 points vs. Virginia Tech.
The Saturday game is scheduled for a rare late-morning tipoff (11 a.m. ET).
–Field Level Media
