Virginia Tech lost 82-73 at NC State on Saturday afternoon in Raleigh in its first game in a week.
The Hokies (16-8, 5-6 ACC) trailed the Wolfpack (18-6, 9-2) by double digits on four separate occasions. They cut into the deficit the first three times and nearly got over the hump, but they didn’t have a fourth run in them in the nine-point defeat.
“We had our chances, didn’t play very well in the first half,” Tech head coach Mike Young told reporters after the game. “We’re down 12 at the half, we’re terrible offensively, had nine turnovers — which you can’t do anywhere, certainly not on the road against a good team. Better job in the second half to cut it to three. …
“Not quite good enough against the Wolfpack, not quite good enough on the road, but we did some good things also.”
While Tech got off to a slow start, State used a 14-1 run after the game’s first media timeout to jump out to a 20-7 lead at the under-12. A 9-0 spurt from the Hokies brought them within four, and their defense improved — the Pack went 7:38 with just one field goal — but wasn’t sustainable.
After a Jailen Bedford 3-pointer pulled them within three, Mike Young called timeout to reset his team with 4:35 left in the half. However, Tech went cold, scoring just once before intermission — a three-point play from Tobi Lawal with 18 seconds left — while NC State ripped off an 11-0 run, highlighted by two Paul McNeil Jr. triples.
That put the Wolfpack up 36-24 at the break, and the Hokies faced their second-largest halftime deficit of the season. They shot just 8-for-31 (26%) in the first 20 minutes and gave the ball away nine times while allowing the home team to make 14 of its 29 shots (48%).
Young called another timeout just 90 seconds into the second half to fire up his group, and back-to-back buckets from Amani Hansberry made it a six-point game, but NC State pulled away again, courtesy of a transition three from Tre Holloman after Tech left him wide open.
After a Matt Able triple put the Wolfpack up 52-39 with 14:06 remaining, the Hokies strung together their best run of the game. Hansberry and Christian Gurdak cut it to nine before Jaden Schutt drilled back-to-back treys. All of a sudden, they trailed 54-51 with 11:20 left.
However, Will Wade got NC State back on track with a timeout, and Holloman knocked down a three to provide some life. Then a quick Wolfpack run, spearheaded by five points from McNeil, pushed the margin back to 12.
The closest the Hokies got the rest of the way was eight with 28 seconds remaining on a Lawal dunk. NC State kept them at arm’s length for the rest of the game.
Though Tech converted a 59 percent clip in the second half (19-for-32), it couldn’t get enough stops. The Pack was also better offensively, up to a 56 percent mark (14-for-25). Young described his bunch as “much too porous defensively in the second half.”
Quadir Copeland and McNeil paced NC State with 21 points apiece while Copeland also dished out 10 assists. Holloman added 16 points while forward Ven-Allen Lubin chipped in 11 points and seven rebounds. However, leading scorer Darrion Williams was just 1-for-9 with four points.
On the other side, Hansberry led the Hokies with 19 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals. He was 6-for-10 in the second half after making just one of his nine shots in the first.
Lawal had a 17-point, 15-rebound double-double and was 6-for-10 from the floor while Schutt made three of his five looks from behind the arc and finished with 11 points.
It was also a get-right game for Neoklis Avdalas, who had been in a slump. He knocked down five of his six field goal attempts, including two threes, and had three rebounds, three assists and a block, though he was responsible for five of the team’s 15 turnovers.
“Thought he looked more like himself,” Young said of Avdalas.
Bedford sparked Tech early with eight points but dealt with foul trouble. Yet, the surprise of the game was Ben Hammond. Though he racked up four assists, he was 0-for-9 from the field and did not score for the first time since Dec. 7, 2024, vs. Pitt, the ninth game of his freshman season.
While it marked NC State’s sixth straight victory, it was Virginia Tech’s third loss in the last four outings. It has another tall task ahead on Wednesday at Clemson (19-4, 9-1 ACC).
Box Score: NC State 82, Virginia Tech 73