North Carolina State will meet in-state rival North Carolina in the ACC Tournament.
The Wolfpack prevailed in overtime by a score of 73-65.
The first 10 minutes of the game looked like a prize fight as both teams went through a feeling-out period.
While Virginia tried to find its mark from the perimeter, North Carolina State tried establishing low-post threat, DJ Burns, Virginia countered by putting Jordan Minor on Burns.
The more Burns touched the ball, the better the Wolfpack offense looked.
At the under-12 media timeout, North Carolina State was shooting 50% from the floor in a 14-14 game, while Virginia was shooting 29%.
With both Burns and Minor on the bench, the sights turned to an undercard match-up of Ben Middlebrooks and Blake Buchanan.
Middlebrooks was starting to get the best of Buchanan, so head coach Tony Bennett went to Jake Groves.
Middlebrooks greeted him with a three-point play.
At the under-4 media timeout, the Wolfpack led 25-21.
Virginia came out of the media timeout and got a personal 6-0 run from Reece Beekman.
Halftime: Virginia 29 NC State 29
The court opened up slightly in the second half, even though neither team started the half shooting exceptionally well.
The Wolfpack forced three early turnovers and had three offensive rebounds as the game stayed close.
Michael O’Connell’s three-pointer gave NC State a 40-37 lead, but it was short-lived. Virginia’s Taine Murray responded with a three-pointer of his own.
Isaac McKneely’s three-pointer gave Virginia a one-point lead. After a Wolfpack miss, McKneely hit another jumper, putting the Cavaliers up 47-44.
McKneely was only getting started. He would finish the second half 4-4 from the floor, 2-2 from three.
Overall, McKneely finished with 23 points on 8-15 shooting from the field.
North Carolina State had the ball down 58-55 with 16.3 seconds left.
Casey Morsell missed a three-pointer, but McKneely missed the front end of a one-and-one, setting up for McConnell to hit the game-tying three-pointer.
Overtime was the DJ Burns show. Burns would score seven points on 3-3 shooting in the extra period.
Burns finished with 19 points.
