RALEIGH, N.C. — The mistakes kept piling up for third-ranked Virginia, which was careless with the ball, struggled on the offensive glass and squandered a double-figure lead in the second half.
Fortunately for coach Tony Bennett, the Cavaliers still managed to squeeze out a road win against a ranked opponent. Kyle Guy hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with two minutes left in overtime and Virginia held on to the horn to beat No. 23 North Carolina State 66-65 on Tuesday night.
“We’ll live and learn,” Bennett said. “Fortunate to get out of here.”
Indeed, Virginia (19-1, 7-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) went from controlling the game’s flow in a hostile environment to blowing a 14-point lead and then having De’Andre Hunter improbably foul N.C. State’s Markell Johnson on a forced-up 3-pointer for the tie in the final seconds of overtime.
Johnson — who had hit two free throws with 29.7 seconds left in regulation to force overtime — missed the first free throw, made the second and then sank the third while apparently trying to miss. Ty Jerome then inbounded the ball to Guy, who flung it to the other end of the court as time expired.
“It was a feeling of relief,” Guy said. “That was a bad game on our part. Coach was rightfully mad after the game and got after us, because we did not play anywhere near our standard. And he holds us to a high standard, so we know we didn’t play very well.”
Of course, as Bennett and Guy noted, the Wolfpack (16-5, 4-4) had plenty to do with that, too.
Virginia came in ranked No. 1 nationally in KenPom’s turnover percentage rate (13.5 percent), but matched its season high with 16 turnovers on 67 possessions (23.9 percent) — with one of those being a 10-second violation for failing to get the ball across midcourt.
N.C. State also grabbed 16 offensive rebounds, the most allowed by the Cavaliers all season, and rallied despite shooting just 34 percent.
“There’s no moral victories,” said Devon Daniels, who had 10 points for the Wolfpack. “But that just tells us we’re right there. If we can clean up a few things … we can win the game.”
