, who trailed 29-27 at halftime. But Virginia shot 63 percent after the break and scored 49 points, with long runs of efficient offense to go with tough defense.Guy made 10 of 13 shots and 7 of 9 from 3-point range for Virginia, which is trying to win back-to-back tournament titles. That was enough offense to offset a rough shooting day for Ty Jerome, who had two points on 1-for-11 shooting but had 10 assists.Markell Johnson had 13 points to lead the eighth-seeded Wolfpack (22-11), who shot 39 percent and made only 15 of 25 free throws.BIG PICTUREN. C. State: The Wolfpack arrived in Charlotte on the NCAA Tournament bubble and on the cut line for many mock brackets. But N. C. State helped itself with Wednesday's second-round win against fellow bubble team Clemson. N. C. State had a good start in pursuit of an even bigger win, leading by six midway through the first half. But the team faded after halftime, shooting 8 of 21 after the break and missing too many free throws.Virginia: While Guy's shooting led the way, Salt's performance was perhaps even more welcome. The 6-foot-10, 250-pound New Zealander provides primarily a physical interior presence and had cracked double figures in scoring just once all season, including five straight scoreless games coming into Charlotte. But he made 7 of 8 shots - including an off-balance driving reverse layup while drawing a foul - to go with six rebounds. Getting reliable interior production from him behind Guy, Jerome and De'Andre Hunter would be a significant boost to Virginia's postseason chances.UP NEXTN. C. State: The Wolfpack will await its postseason fate on Selection Sunday.Virginia: The Cavaliers advanced to Friday's semifinals.---More college basketball: https://apnews.com/Collegebasketball and http://www.twitter.com/-Top25---Follow Aaron Beard on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/aaronbeardap)
Mar 13, 2019In the same arena where Virginia's postseason ended last season, the Cavaliers' 2019 postseason will begin on Thursday afternoon.No. 1 seed Virginia will look to defend its ACC tournament title this weekend as it opens play against eighth-seeded North Carolina State, who edged No. 9 seed Clemson on Wednesday."You're now going into a different kind of tournament which is a one-and-done," Virginia head coach Tony Bennett said on Tuesday. "It's the same in the NCAA Tournament. Just being as ready as we can and we've tried to grow as much as we can." Virginia (28-2), ranked No. 2 in the nation, has won eight games in a row and capped off another 16-win ACC regular season slate and has now won 33 conference games over the past two seasons.North Carolina State (22-10) kept its NCAA Tournament hopes alive with a one-point comeback win over Clemson in Wednesday's second round. The Wolfpack trailed by 16 points at halftime, but overcame the deficit and posted the second-largest comeback in tournament history, winning 59-58."It was about how much heart and desire and effort you would put into it," Wolfpack head coach Kevin Keatts said after the game. "I told them, I said: 'If you played extremely hard, we'll come out with a win.' And these guys were special." Guard Markell Johnson knocked down two free throws with less than three seconds to play to propel the Wolfpack as he scored a game-high 23 points and was the only North Carolina State player in double figures.The Cavaliers haven't played since their 73-68 win at home against Louisville in Saturday's regular-season finale. Virginia beat the Wolfpack in Raleigh in the teams' lone meeting this season, but not without some struggles.The one-point overtime win was Virginia's toughest triumph of the season as they needed Kyle Guy's lone 3-pointer of the game with two minutes left in overtime to put them ahead for good."We'll live and learn," Bennett said after the win back in January. "We're fortunate to get out of here." Virginia has won seven straight games against North Carolina State and has limited the Wolfpack to 55 or fewer points in six of those seven wins.North Carolina State averages 81 points per game on the season, but has scored 73 or fewer in each of its last four games - but is 2-2 in those games. The Wolfpack have shown signs of better defense, which will have to continue against a Virginia team that has connected on 30 3-pointers in its last two games."I think this team is built for that," Keatts said about his team's comeback against Clemson. "I don't want to be in that position all of the time thought." Another early start on Thursday (12:30 p.m. local) may bode well for the Wolfpack, who will already have a game under their belt and may have a bid to the NCAA Tournament on the line. The top-seeded Cavaliers are currently projected to be the top seed in the tournament, and will be looking to extend their ACC tournament win streak to four games.--Field Level Media
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