There for a moment, it looked like the Hokies were going to get it done. After 100 minutes of NC State shooting 70-of-115 against the Hokies, after two and a half games of blistering Virginia Tech’s defense, NC State finally cooled down. They made just six of their first 18 shots after half time, and A.D. Vassallo popped a three-pointer to tie it up at 48 with 7:10 to go. There was a little crack in the clouds that hang over the Hokies every time they play the Wolfpack.

The Pack was wounded and sluggish. NC State point guard Engin Atsur could
barely walk at times. The Hokies were picking up the pace and pushing the ball
down the floor for some easy buckets.

Then it fell apart. Over the next four minutes and 15 seconds, NC State went
on a 10-2 run that sealed the deal. The Hokies did all they could to help,
missing the front end of three agonizing one and ones, the worst part of a
5-of-15 start at the free throw line that was only part of a tapestry of missed
opportunities that doomed the Hokies.

Sunday afternoon, the North Carolina Tar Heels will destroy the NC State
Wolfpack. NC State is done, fatigued and injured, and the Tar Heels will force
the pace and dispatch of the Pack quickly and easily. Sadly, the Hokies couldn’t
beat the Wolfpack just once this season, a season in which NC State accounted
for over a quarter of the Hokies’ 11 defeats. No one else beat Tech twice, but
the Pack did it three times. I can explain it … but then again, I can’t.

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