Virginia Moves On to ACC Semifinals With Win Over NC State

By Scott Ratcliffe

CHARLOTTE — No. 1 seed Virginia got a career high from senior big man Jack Salt, a near-record performance from junior sharpshooter Kyle Guy, and cruised to a 76-56 win over No. 8 NC State Thursday in the ACC Tournament quarterfinal round at the Spectrum Center.

Salt scored 15 of his career-best 18 points in the second half, including three — count ‘em — three old-fashioned 3-point plays, while Guy lit up the Wolfpack (22-11) for 14 points in the first half and 15 in the second to finish with 29, just one shy of his career high of 30.

Guy’s seven 3-pointers set a new individual school record for triples made in an ACC Tournament game, besting Curtis Staples’ six against Wake Forest in 1996. The junior from Indianapolis missed just three shots all day (10-13 FG, 7-9 3PT).

Virginia (29-2) advances to the ACC Tourney semifinal round for the fifth time in the last six seasons with the win, and will face No. 4 Florida State or No. 5 Virginia Tech at 7 p.m. Friday.

Trailing by four early in the second half, the Wahoos scored 11 of the game’s next 13 points, part of a 19-3 run over a five-minute span to lead 46-37 with 12:21 to go.

Salt was playing much more aggressively Thursday than he has much of the season after playing through back pain. He scored his second and-1 of the day during the decisive spurt, then put back a De’Andre Hunter miss less than a minute later.

Salt left the floor to a well-deserved ovation when Guy came up with a rare 4-point play 30 seconds later, and set his new career high on a power jam with 7:37 to go, putting his team up by 16, and by that point it was about time to call in the dogs.

The Cavaliers led 16-6 early on after 8 straight points from Guy, but the Wolfpack answered with an 18-2 run, which included 14 unanswered points, taking a 24-18 lead with 8:20 until the break. Virginia committed six turnovers in the first half, which led to 8 Wolfpack points, but only surrendered the ball three times after halftime.

Jay Huff knocked down a big 3-pointer — his only points of the day — in the final minute of the first half to get the ‘Hoos back within two, 29-27. It was just the fifth time UVA has been down at the half this season.

Hunter had a quiet first half (3 points on 1-for-4 shooting), but scored 13 in the second. Ty Jerome had a tough day shooting-wise with just 2 points (1-11 FG, 0-6 3PT), but registered 10 assists, 5 rebounds and 4 steals. Braxton Key scored just one point but did what he does best as he hauled in a team-high 7 rebounds.

Markell Johnson (13 points) and DJ Funderburk (12 off the bench) were the only State players in double figures, as the Wolfpack will wait for Selection Sunday to see if they’ll qualify for the Big Dance.