By BOB SUTTON

Associated Press

RALEIGH (AP) — Sam Hauser and Trey Murphy III each scored 18 points and No. 14 Virginia produced a strong finishing stretch to beat North Carolina State 64-57 on Wednesday night.

Jay Huff added 12 points for the Cavaliers (12-3, 8-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), who had their 15-game ACC winning streak stretching to last season halted Saturday night at then-No. 20 Virginia Tech.

Jericole Hellems poured in 23 points before fouling out for N.C. State (7-7, 3-6), which won just one game in January.

Hellems’ jumper gave the Wolfpack a 46-45 lead with less than 6 1/2 minutes remaining as Virginia endured an eight-minute stretch without a field goal.
Hauser hit a 3-pointer to break the drought, allowing the Cavaliers to build a 50-46 edge with 5:38 to play. Huff converted a three-point play to stretch the lead to 55-48.

Hauser scored 11 points in the first 10 minutes, pushing Virginia to a 19-13 advantage. Five minutes later, Hellems reached the 14-point mark and the Wolfpack led 22-19, aided by the Cavaliers’ 6 1/2-minute scoring drought.

Virginia scored the next nine points and led 28-24 at the break.

Virginia won its seventh straight road game in the series.

BIG PICTURE

Virginia: While the ACC-leading Cavaliers had trouble scoring from the field at times, they made 20 of 22 free throws (90.9%). They entered the week third nationally in free-throw shooting at 80.4%.

N.C. State: Hellems, a junior swingman, has put up career-high point totals in consecutive games since the Wolfpack lost scoring leader Devon Daniels to a season-ending knee injury last week.

WELCOME BACK

N.C. State forward D.J. Funderburk, who was held out of Sunday night’s loss at Syracuse because of “university policies,” was back in action. He entered about five minutes into the game, finishing with nine points — all in the second half. He scored a team-high 14 points in last season’s win at Virginia.

SEE YA LATER

N.C. State will travel to Virginia for a rematch in three weeks. The Feb. 24 pairing was announced earlier Wednesday amid several schedule adjustments within the ACC. The teams were slated to meet Jan. 20, but that game was postponed because of N.C. State’s coronavirus protocols.

UP NEXT

Virginia: Hosts Pittsburgh on Saturday, a matchup announced earlier Wednesday after the Louisville-Virginia game was nixed because of Louisville’s coronavirus issues.

N.C. State: At Boston College on Saturday.

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