Many ACC basketball fans are looking for another dominant win for the Cavaliers of Virginia. However, the Wolfpack may be the surprise team to knock off Virginia with numbers leaning towards a closer game than expected. #3 Virginia (18-1) will travel to Raleigh, North Carolina tonight to take on the #23 NC State Wolfpack (16-4) for an ACC game.
How NC State Can Win
Keep Virginia on their heels and retain the stat lines. NC State has been a less impressive version of themselves as of recently. Some of their games have been losses dished out by bad teams, but other games they show great playing. If NC State can keep up their higher averages against a stellar Virginia team, they might be able to pull out the upset.
How Virginia Can Win
Control the ball and shoot the three at a high rate. Almost every Virginia game will go the same route with a tighter first half followed by a dominant second half. Also, Virginia is known to shoot the ball quite well with 39.6% of their shots dropping. Virginia can easily keep on pace to make sure they shoot well and have slow, meaningful possessions to secure a win.
Players to Watch:
NC State: Torin Dorn will, again, be the most important player for the Wolfpack if a win is to come. Dorn will also need to surpass his 14.3 points average and push for somewhere in the mid-20s. Look out for NC State backcourt to push the game with Dorn at the helm.
Virginia: Ty Jerome, who not only is the point guard, runs a heavy presence with grabbing rebounds. Jerome is a junior and a well-balanced player all around that helps boosts this Virginia team. It is most likely that he will be leading Virginia to a win.
Score Prediction:
Here is a reasonable question: Will a team that has gone 2-2 in their last 4 and won by an average of 3 against non top-25 teams upset a #3 team? No. It is just not happening. Even at Raleigh, the Wolfpack have struggled a lot with scoring and holding their opponents back. I think we will see the worst of the Wolfpack tonight and another dominant Virginia win. Virginia 75, NC State 59
Photo Credits: https://www.streakingthelawn.com/2018/1/13/16888856/ncaa-basketball-preview-virginia-cavaliers-nc-state-wolfpack
