Virginia’s inexperience continues to show on ACC road with meltdown at NC State

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Tony Bennett summed up a lot of the woes of his young Virginia basketball team after yet another lopsided road loss Saturday when the Cavaliers were clobbered, 76-60, at NC State.

“Our inexperience does show, and this is not a year in this league to be inexperienced,” Bennett said after watching his team implode to an 11-4 record, 2-2 in ACC play.

It was Virginia’s third true-road loss by a total of 61 points (Memphis, Notre Dame and State), and while it appears to observers on the outside that this Cavaliers team may be a little soft, Bennett buckled at the notion that his squad may not have the fire or passion it requires to win on the road.

“The times we’ve gotten into situations, we’ve gotten down and I think we sometimes get discouraged and then it unravels quickly if we’re missing shots,” Bennett said. “But as far as competitive fire, that’s easy to sit there and say that.

“In fact, composure, inexperience at times is what all of a sudden separates it, and then a bad decision on the offensive end can lead to indecision on the defensive end, so I think it’s as much that than saying, ‘Well, you lack the competitive fire.’ I don’t think it’s quite like that.”

Bennett had explained only a few nights before, after routing Louisville, that he had decided to build for the future, but at the same time try to be as good as possible in the present. He realized it wouldn’t be easy, that he would be giving some of his players baptism by fire.

“But I think, hopefully, it will produce a good harvest, whenever that is,” Bennett concluded.

That harvest may not come this season. Early expectations of a top-4 ACC finish may have been as premature as an AP Top 25 appearance, all of which didn’t account for the fact that only three of Virginia’s players had any experience in the “Pack-Line,” and both of those were sophomores. The rest of the team was patchworked together from transfers, redshirts and high schoolers.

Bennett preached patience before the season when he cautioned that Virginia wouldn’t be the same team in March that it would be in November. The coach believed the beauty of this collection of talent is that it would be together for the next two or three years, if anyone can say that in these days of impatience.

Virginia’s inexperience certainly showed as it unraveled a little past midway of the first half when the Cavaliers led 19-15, then BOOM.

State had the ball out of bounds with only 1.4 seconds on the shot clock, coming out of a timeout. Former Cavalier Casey Morsell inbounded the ball to freshman Dennis Parker Jr., although the pass was supposed to go to D.J. Horne, who was covered up.

Parker took the ball and quickly heaved it up, nearly 40-feet out, and nailed a momentum-swinging, 3-pointer in the midst of a 15-4 Wolfpack run. State led 28-21 after that point blitz and went on to hold a 35-28 lead at the break.

“It’s one of my best play calls,” joked NC State coach Kevin Keatts of Parker’s desperation shot. “One of my best play calls of the year is get Dennis Parker the ball at half court with 1.4 seconds on the clock. I just knew he was going to drain it. Great call.”

For the 6-foot-6 Parker, his heave was a dish best served cold. He’s still burning over the fact that he grew up in Richmond (John Marshall High School) and had hoped for some interest from Virginia.

“They didn’t [call],” Parker told media after the game. “It is what it is at the end of the day. My sister went to UVA, so I mean, even if they didn’t offer me, it would have been nice to at least get like an unofficial call, something like that. But I’m not really shook.”

Virginia was shook, though, as Bennett hoped his team would recover from a brutal end of the half, but his team didn’t respond and was unmercifully outscored 14-4 as the Wolfpack rolled to a 49-32 advantage and never looked back. State led by as many as 21 at 60-39 with 11:49 to play.

The Wolfpack shot 49 percent against Virginia’s defense, but the big margin came about as State dropped 10, 3-point bombs on the “Pack-Line,” as the Cavaliers couldn’t close out Wolfpack shooters. Keep in mind, this is the same NC State team that shot only 28.8 percent from the field — second-lowest of the Keatts era — on Wednesday night at Notre Dame.

“We’re growing defensively, but when you score 76 points against a really good Virginia defense, then you know you’ve done a good job,” Keatts said.

Parker and JJ Taylor scored 15 each as the Wolfpack improved to 11-3 and 3-0 in the league, its best ACC start since 2013.

Meanwhile, Virginia got its scoring from the usual suspects: Isaac McKneely 18 (4 for 7 from the arc), Reece Beekman with 12 (and 10 assists), and Ryan Dunn’s 16 points (7 for 9 shooting). Beekman’s numbers were even more impressive considering Taylor played the best on-ball defense against him that anyone has all season.

Freshman Blake Buchanan started at the five in place of Jake Groves (12 minutes, 1 for 6), with Buchanan clocking significant court time (23 minutes) for the second-straight game. He was 2 for 3 for 4 points and had 5 rebounds and a steal.

With Dante Harris missing his ninth-straight game after suffering a brutal ankle injury, Andrew Rohde played 31 minutes, but was somewhat unproductive, going 1 for 6 (0 for 3 from the arc) and committing 3 of UVA’s 8 turnovers.

Bennett recognizes the defensive breakdowns and mental letdowns, but believes his team is taking baby steps toward what he believes will be a better product weeks from now. They have a week to figure out that next step before yet another Saturday road game, this time at Wake Forest.

Team Notes

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

• Virginia (11-4, 2-2 ACC) is 2-4 away from home and 0-3 in true road games
• Virginia sports a 13-9 record at PNC Arena
• UVA has yielded 10 or more 3-pointers in its last two road games
• UVA trailed 35-28 at the half
• NC State won the rebound battle 32-31
• UVA forced one shot clock violation (11 total)

Series Notes

• Virginia is 69-86 all-time vs. NC State in the series that dates to 1912-13
• The 16-point win was NC State’s largest in the series since a 19-point win in the 2013 ACC Tournament
• NC State has won four of the last six games in the series
• UVA is 24-40 at NC State, including a 9-9 mark at PNC Arena
• Tony Bennett is 15-6 vs. NC State as head coach at UVA

Player Notes

• Double Figure Scorers: Isaac McKneely (18), Ryan Dunn (16), Reece Beekman (12)
• Dunn had a career-high 16 points
• Beekman (10 assists) had his fifth career 10 assist game
• McKneely drilled four of more 3-pointers for the fifth time this season
• Beekman reached double figures for the 42nd time
• McKneely reached double figures for the 14th time
• Dunn reached double figures for the 10th time
• Blake Buchanan made his fifth start and first since Nov. 22 vs. West Virginia
• Dante Harris missed his ninth-straight game with an ankle injury