‘Hoos claw back for late lead, but can’t finish against Wolfpack

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Posted on Monday, Jan. 20, 2020, 10:11 pm

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Casey Morsell drives around Wolfpack defender Markell Johnson (Photo by John Markon).

After losing the lead with less than five minutes to play for the first time since midway through the first half, visiting NC State used a late 10-1 scoring run to take the lead and survived with a 53-51 win over Virginia Monday night.

UVA freshman Casey Morsell came up with a rebound after the Wolfpack missed their third free throw — in four tries — in the final 25 seconds, trailing by two after Devon Daniels connected on the front end with 7.2 ticks showing.

With time ticking away, Morsell hustled down the court and hoisted a contested 3-pointer that bounced off the front of the rim as the final horn sounded, sending the Cavaliers (12-6, 4-4 ACC) to their fourth loss in the last five games.

The Wolfpack (14-5, 5-3) was down to just six active scholarship players after D.J. Funderburk fouled out with 6:48 left, but overcame a scoring drought of over 10 minutes to steal back the victory.

Funderburk didn’t miss in the opening half, scoring a dozen of his game-high 14 points over the first 20 minutes as his team clung to a 28-26 lead.

State went on an 11-2 spurt to extend their lead to 42-31, the largest advantage of the night for either side, with just under 14 minutes to play. After going 0 for 7 from 3-point land in the first half, State sank three from long distance in the opening minutes of the second and looked to be in control. The ‘Pack was 5 of 9 from distance after halftime.

The ‘Hoos rallied — behind the somewhat unlikely combo of Morsell and fellow first-year Francisco Caffaro — to score the game’s next 15 points and take a 46-42 lead on a Caffaro basket with 4:39 to go. That turned out to be Virginia’s final field-goal make of the evening.

The 7-footer from Argentina jump-started the run with his first basket since the North Carolina win on Dec. 8, and later sank two freebies to get the ‘Hoos within one.

After a brief flicker of the JPJ lights, Morsell gave UVA its first lead since it was 19-18 with a 3-ball from in front of the Cavalier bench with 6:06 to go. Morsell also sank a jumper and caused a crucial turnover during the stretch.

State’s Jericole Hellems finally got one to fall from downtown with 3:37 to play, as Mamadi Diakite split a pair of free throws 23 seconds later to make it a 47-45 game.

The Wolfies got three unanswered buckets — a Markell Johnson 3-pointer, a Hellems stickback and a C.J. Bryce jumper — to go ahead by five with 27 seconds left. Caffaro was hammered by Bryce from behind on a shot attempt with 57 seconds on the clock, but the officials did not blow the whistle and were serenaded with a loud chorus of boos from the John Paul Jones Arena crowd.

The ball then went out of bounds off of a State player after the no-call, with what appeared to be one second left on the shot clock, but as soon as Diakite caught the ensuing inbound pass and squared up to release a potentially tying 3-point try, the 24-second clock lit up and the buzzer sounded to indicate a shot-clock violation on the ‘Hoos.

The ‘Pack couldn’t seal it from the line, as Johnson and Bryce each misfired on the front ends of one-and-one opportunities (with 25 and 13 seconds left, respectively), and UVA secured both rebounds. The first led to a Jay Huff miss from 3-point range that bounced off the rim and over the basket; the second led to a pair of Kihei Clark free throws that made it a 52-51 ballgame with 8.2 to go, setting up the final sequence as Daniels was quickly fouled with 7.2 showing, making the first and missing the second at the charity stripe.

Funderburk was 5 for 5 from the field in the first half, but was just 1 of 3 from then on. Bryce stepped up, scoring 8 of his 13 after halftime, as the Wolfpack shot 39 percent on the night.

Clark was the only Wahoo in double figures with 10 points to go along with 7 rebounds and 5 assists. Morsell finished with 9 points, while Diakite, Huff and Key each added 8 and Caffaro had 6. UVA was 18 for 50 for the game (3 of 12 from long distance), out-rebounding State by 10 (40-30) and committing just 10 turnovers all night (only four after halftime).

The Cavaliers travel to Winston-Salem Sunday for a noon game against Wake Forest.

Courtesy UVA Media Relations:

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Team Notes

  • The Cavaliers fell to 12-6, 4-4 ACC
  • UVA is 8-3 at home in 2019-20
  • UVA trailed at the half (28-26) for the sixth time (0-6)
  • NC State outscored UVA 14-5 to start the second half, gaining its largest advantage at 42-31
  • Francisco Caffaro’s layup ended UVA’s 6:37 scoring drought in the second half and ignited a 15-0 run by the Cavaliers
  • The 15-point scoring run was UVA’s largest of the season

Series Notes

  • The loss snapped UVA’s eight-game winning streak against NC State
  • Virginia is 68-82 all-time vs. NC State in the series that dates back to 1912-13
  • UVA has limited the Wolfpack to 56 or fewer points in eight of the last nine games
  • Tony Bennett is 13-3 vs. NC State as head coach at Virginia
  • UVA’s 51 points marked its lowest in the series since a 51-47 win on Feb. 11, 2015 in Raleigh

Player Notes

  • Double Figure Scorers: Kihei Clark (10)
  • Mamadi Diakite blocked three shots to move into third on UVA’s career list with 142
  • Casey Morsell tallied nine points, most since 10 vs. Navy on Dec. 29, 2019
  • Caffaro’s six points were his most since 10 vs. North Carolina on Dec. 8, 2019