Virginia heads into Wednesday’s home game against N.C. State in desperate need of a win after their first back-to-back losses of the season. Losing consecutively is never good but at this point in the season — right before the postseason — it’s even worse. Luckily, recent Virginia basketball history tells us they come back strong in these situations. After dropping three straight ACC games last year, they ripped off 12 of 14 before COVID shut the season down; in 2018-19, they won four in a row after losing to Duke on the road, then finished the regular season 8-0 (and eventually won the national title) after losing to Duke a second time. Moral of the story…Tony Bennett should have the Hoos ready to roll on Wednesday night.

N.C. State At No. 15 Virginia

Time: 6:30 p.m. ET
TV: ACC Network
Radio: Virginia Sports Radio Network
Location: John Paul Jones Arena

Betting Info

Line: Virginia -11.5
ML: N.C. State +500; Virginia -800
O/U: 127.5
Team O/U: N.C. State 58; Virginia 69

ATS Trends: N.C. State (4-0 in their last 4 road games); Virginia (8-1-1 in their last 10 games following an ATS loss); Matchup (Virginia is 3-1 in their last 4 home games)
O/U Trends: N.C. State (Over is 27-10 in their last 37 road games); Virginia (Over is 6-1 in their last 7 home games); Matchup (Under is 10-0 in their last 10 meetings)

KenPom Rankings

KenPom: N.C. State #71; Virginia #9
KenPom Offense Efficiency: N.C. State #64; Virginia #13
KenPom Defensive Efficiency: N.C. State #89; Virginia #21

ACC Rankings

Scoring Offense: N.C. State 73.8 ppg (#6); Virginia 69.2 ppg (#11)
Scoring Defense: N.C. State 70.3 ppg (#8); Virginia 60.3 ppg (#1)

Three-point offense: N.C. State 36 percent (#5); Virginia 40.0 percent (#1)
Three-point defense: N.C. State 35.4 percent (#9); Virginia 33.8 percent (#6)

Players To Watch

N.C. State: Jericole Hellems (13.3 ppg, 4.9 rpg); Manny Bates (9.6 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 2.9 bpg)
Virginia: Sam Hauser (15.1 ppg, 7.0 rpg); Jay Huff (13.3 ppg; 6.8 rpg; 2.4 bpg)

Notes

-The game features the ACC’s two leaders in blocks per game, #1 Manny Bates and #2 Jay Huff.
-Virginia hasn’t lost a home game all year (9-0).
-UVA already beat the Wolfpack this season (64-57 on Feb. 3).
-Tony Bennett has a 14-3 career record vs. N.C. State.