Virginia holds off Wolfpack comeback for overtime win, 59-53. It wasn’t pretty

There was little or no finesse Wednesday as N.C. State took on Virginia.

It wasn’t about that. It wasn’t about pretty offensive plays or sparkling fast-breaks.

The Cavaliers held off the Wolfpack 59-53, but needed overtime to win their 11th straight game at home this season and 21st overall at John Paul Jones Arena.

It was tight at the end of regulation. An inside basket by the Pack’s D.J. Burns pulled the Pack within 47-45 with 57.9 seconds left. The Wolfpack needed a defensive stop and got it, calling a timeout with 26.2 seconds remaining — 23 on the shot block.

Michael O’Connell’s putback of a Burns miss tied it up, and the Pack again got the defensive stop, with Casey Morsell getting off a halfcourt shot that grazed the rim.

Virginia (14-5, 5-3 ACC) never trailed in the overtime as Jordan Minor scored the first basket to get things started.

For Virginia, offense almost seems like an after-thought under coach Tony Bennett. For the Wahoos, as Bennett sees it, the game is to be decided on the defensive end.

Virginia held the Pack to 15 first-half points Wednesday, Fifteen, on 6-for-24 shooting from the field that had the Wolfpack missing all three of its 3-pointers.

D.J. Horne, the Pack’s leading scorer, did not have a point in the opening half.

The Pack (13-6, 5-3) scored the first six points of the game and appeared confident enough. But too many possessions ended with aggressively contested shots that would not fall and a scoring drought of five or more minutes.

The Pack played hard, especially Morsell, the former Virginia guard, but the Wolfpack could not string together enough scoring possessions.

Takeaways from the ACC game:

Fight to the finish

Wolfpack coach Kevin Keatts likes a lot about this year’s team, but especially it’s fight, he often says.

“We fight to the end,” he said after the loss to Virginia Tech.

The Pack did that at Virginia. After a miserable offensive first half, the Pack pulled within 37-32 midway through the second half with a 7-0 run capped by a driving basket by Morsell, forcing a Virginia timeout.

Suddenly it was a game. Isaac McKneely bombed in a 3 for the Cavs, but Horne did the same. With 7:02 remaining, it was 40-35, Cavs.

A steal and fast-break dunk by the Pack’s Mo Diarra made it 40-37, and another DIarra basket made it 40-When Michael O’Connell knocked a shot from the top of the key the Pack led 41-40 with 4:25 remaining in regulation.

After a Virginia score, O’Connell drove for a basket but Reece Beekman answered with a 3-point play and McKneely a jumper as the Cavs edged back ahead 47-43.

Cavs go hard at home

The Cavaliers are a different team at home. It shows. And especially when the referees go easy on the whistles and “let the two teams play.”

The Pack doesn’t mind a physical brand of basketball. But the Cavs take it to another level, bodying up on everything.

Eight minutes into the second half, Virginia was called for a foul on a slight push. The crowd reacted with howls of disbelief.

There wasn’t the same reaction when the Pack’s O’Connell was called for a touch foul when Beekman scored in the lane late in regulation for a 3-point play. Only cheers that time.

Virginia was called for eight personal fouls — in the game. The Pack was called for 16.

Burns needs more consistency

D.J.Burns can be a dynamic player at times. But at other times …

Early in the second half, the Pack’s big man scored three inside baskets. He looked the part of the player who came into the ACC last season and quickly made other teams aware of his — yes, large — presence.

He did it again late in regulation, using his size to get position low for the short shots he likes.

But Burns can be a defensive liability. On one play Wednesday, the Pack worked extremely hard defensively for the length of the shot clock and the Cavs’ Dante Harris put up a last-gasp 3 that was off the mark. But Jordan Minor swept down the lane and past Burns to grab the rebound for a big dunk.