North Carolina State University Athletics
Virginia Holds Off NC State, 67-62
12/3/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
By Tony Haynes
“He only made four shots and I think they were all in the second half,” said NC State’s Gavin Grant. “The guy did what he was supposed to do. He played well for his team and I tip my hat to him.”
And Uva (5-1, 0-1) would need all the heroics Reynolds could muster on a day when the scrappy Pack hardly looked like a young, inexperienced team playing its first ACC game on the road.
Playing without senior point guard Engin Atsur, NC State (5-1, 0-1) seemingly had the older, more seasoned Cavaliers on the ropes before Reynolds got it going. A pull up jumper by Bryan Nieman with just over eight minutes remaining pushed the Pack in front 48-45 and had the sell-out crowd of 15,219 at the new John Paul Jones Arena sounding more than a little anxious.
But coming out of a media time-out, Reynolds started his late game string of big shots, knocking down a 3-pointer from the left wing to tie it. From that point on it became a nervy game of lead changes and big plays.
After a Ben McCauley layup off of a nice backdoor cut gave NC State a 61-59 advantage at the two-minute mark, Reynolds swung the momentum right back Virginia’s way, draining a deep 3-pointer from the left corner over State’s Courtney Fells, who was playing off the deadly shooting guard.
“We let Reynolds shoot a wide open three when we backed off him instead of jamming him,” said Pack head coach Sidney Lowe. “That was the play of the game right there. We had been chasing him and had done a pretty good job of chasing him out, but he hit some tough shots and had it going a little bit. Certainly when I guy like that is holding the ball in his hands, we talk about jamming shooters up and forcing them to put it on the floor. We didn’t do that and he shot it with a lot of confidence.”
With
Then it was guard Sean Singletary’s turn to knock down a clutch shot.
On NC State’s next trip down the court, the Cavaliers held their breath when Brandon Costner, who paced the Wolfpack with 17 points, missed an open three from the top of the key.
The Pack’s inability to keep the Cavaliers off the offensive glass was a huge factor most of the day, but never bigger than on UVa’s next possession when Singletary’s wayward 3-point attempt with 21 seconds remaining was rebounded by Reynolds, who was fouled and made one of two free throws with 19 seconds left to give Virginia a 65-62 lead.
Needing a 3-pointer to tie, NC State took a time-out, allowing Lowe an opportunity to draw up a play that nearly worked. After setting a high ball-screen for Grant, Costner stepped back behind a flare screen from McCauley, took a throwback pass from Grant and fired away, but his open shot hit the front of the rim and was rebounded by Singletary, who then sunk a pair of free throws on the other end to ice it.
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Singletary, who was averaging nearly 18 points per game coming in, was held to 4-of-12 shooting and 11 points by the taller Grant. He did, however, finish with nine rebounds from his point guard position. In fact, just about everyone got in on the board barrage for
“It’s very deflating,” Lowe said. “You’re down there fighting and they’re just pushing you out of the way and getting the rebound. I told our guys that we’ve got to get tougher; they’re pushing, but we’ve got to push back. They were just a little more aggressive and probably a little fresher because they were running guys in and out and we couldn’t do that.”
Although he finished with only two points,
Grant, subbing for the injured Atsur at the point, did a little of everything, scoring 15 points to go along with six rebounds and eight assists. McCauley (12 points) and Fells (11) also hit double-figures for the Pack.
NC State, which trailed 27-26 at the half, hit 23-of-55 shots for 41 percent, while
Still, Lowe liked what he saw from a team that once again almost overcame many of its shortcomings to push
“I’m very proud,” said Lowe of NC State’s effort. “Coming into this environment for the first time with this group of guys and they put themselves in the position. That’s what you ask of a veteran ball club when you’re on the road. These guys did it. I’m very proud of the fact that they put themselves in a position. If we keep putting ourselves in that position, we’ll get some.”
