Thijs De Ridder scored 19 points and No. 11 Virginia completed a season sweep of NC State with a wire-to-wire 90-61 win in Atlantic Coast Conference action Tuesday night in Charlottesville, Va.
The Cavaliers (25-3, 13-2 ACC) won their ninth straight game, their longest streak since the 2018-19 national championship season. They stayed one game behind No. 1 Duke in the ACC heading into Saturday’s showdown in Durham, N.C.
Sam Lewis added 16 points, Jacari White scored 15, Malik Thomas had 12 and Chance Mallory chipped in 11. Johann Grunloh set a career high with eight of Virginia’s 12 blocked shots.
The Wolfpack (19-9, 10-5) shot a season-worst 29.4% (20 of 68) from the field. They shot 36.0% in a 76-61 home loss to the Cavaliers on Jan. 3. NC State came in averaging 84.9 points per game.
Paul McNeil Jr. led NC State with 22 points, Darrion Williams added 14 and Ven-Allen Lubin had 11.
Virginia extended its 13-point halftime lead to 41-25 on De Ridder’s two free throws with 17:59 to play.
Shortly thereafter, officials broke up a scuffle near midcourt and NC State’s Scottie Ebube was ejected for leaving the bench. Williams and Lewis drew offsetting technical fouls.
Ugonna Onyenso’s alley-oop dunk gave the Cavaliers a 51-33 lead with 14:53 remaining.
The Virginia lead ballooned to 78-53 on De Ridder’s dunk with 5:44 to play. De Ridder limped off the court at the next timeout and did not return with the game out of hand.
The Cavaliers improved to 14-1 at home, shooting 46.2% (12 of 26) from 3-point range and posting a 32-5 advantage in bench points.
The Wolfpack were rusty after a weeklong layoff, missing 12 of their first 13 shots. The Cavaliers took advantage, capping a 12-0 run with Mallory’s layup for a 15-3 lead.
NC State briefly seized momentum and trailed 20-18 after three free throws by McNeil with 5:46 left in the half, but Virginia finished the half with a 12-1 run for a 32-19 lead at intermission.
The Cavaliers had more blocked shots (eight) than the Wolfpack had field goals (six) in the first half.
–Field Level Media
