By Jerry Ratcliffe

Virginia hits the ACC road again for a rare Saturday morning tipoff at NC State (11 a.m., ESPN2) in hopes of regaining the momentum that vaulted the Cavaliers into the top 25 last month.

The Cavaliers (11-2, 0-1 ACC, NET 31) are 4.5-point underdogs to the Wolfpack (10-4, 1-0, NET 32). UVA is coming off its worst game of the season, a 95-85, three-overtime loss at Virginia Tech on New Year’s Eve. In that game, UVA started the game sluggish and shot poorly. The Wahoos finished the game making only 10 of a program-record 45 attempts from the 3-point arc, gave up 60 rebounds and were whistled for 27 personal fouls.

Coach Ryan Odom complained after the loss that his team wasn’t disciplined enough and that the Cavaliers needed to better learn how to play physically without fouling in addition to improving on defensive rebounding.

State is also led by a new coach, Will Wade, like Odom, formerly of VCU, a coach who gained a tarnished reputation over his recruiting methods at LSU.

The Wolfpack is coming off its ACC-opening win over Wake Forest, 70-57, when State limited the Deacons to only 8-of-31 shooting from the 3-point line.

Wade’s team boasts five double-figures scorers: 6-6 senior Darrion Williams (14.2 ppg, transfer from Texas Tech); Paul McNeil, 6-5, sophomore (14.2); Qadir Copeland, 6-6 senior (14.1, transfer from McNeese State/Syracuse); Ven-Allen Lubin, 6-9 senior (13.1, transfer UNC/Vanderbilt/Notre Dame); Tre Holloman, 6-2 senior (transfer from Michigan State). The Wolfies also feature 6-10 Musa Sagnia, a physical freshman from West Africa. Sagnia was a late addition to State’s roster after having been cleared following playing professionally in Spain.

The 11-a.m. start is due to an NHL game scheduled in the arena later in the day.