By HANK KURZ Jr.
Malcolm Brogdon scored 22 points and No. 7 Virginia took command with a 13-2 run to begin the second half and beat North Carolina State 73-53 on Monday night, the Cavaliers’ 18th consecutive victory at home.
Brogdon had five points in the key burst, which broke a 31-all halftime tie. London Perrantes added 19 points for Virginia (21-5, 10-4 Atlantic Coast Conference), which was coming off a controversial last-second loss at Duke. Brogdon and Perrantes each also had five assists, and Isaiah Wilkins grabbed 13 rebounds. The Cavaliers built their lead to as many as 24 points before emptying their bench.
ACC scoring leader Cat Barber led the Wolfpack (13-13, 3-10) with 14 points, but was blanketed for most of the game by Brogdon and never got into any rhythm. He finished 4 for 11 from the field. Cody Martin added 12 points, Lennard Freeman had nine and BeeJay Anya eight.
Brogdon (4-for-7) and Perrantes (5-for-8) finished a combined 9 of 15 from 3-point range.
The Wolfpack started fast, hitting their first six shots from the field, but made just 13 of 41 the rest of the way (31.7 percent).
Virginia used a 10-2 run to take a 31-27 lead with 2:49 left in the first half, then didn’t score again as the Wolfpack pulled even by halftime.
TIP INS
N.C. State: The Wolfpack scored on their first seven possessions, then had five turnovers, four one-and-done missed shots and a 3-pointer by Caleb Martin on their next 10 trips. … One of 16 schools to have played in the last four NCAA tournaments, the Wolfpack will need to put something together down the stretch, or win the ACC tournament, to extend that streak.
Virginia: Gill, Virginia’s No. 2 scorer (14.2) got his first points on a dunk at the 18:14 mark of the second half. … Justin Anderson, who left Virginia after last season to enter the NBA Draft, was in the crowd. He’s spent some of the season with the Dallas Mavericks and some with their developmental league team.
UP NEXT
The Wolfpack is at home against Clemson on Saturday,