Pack attack: Hokies hold No. 23 NC State to 24
Virginia Tech’s Nickeil Alexander-Walker gets the dribble hand off and goes right down the lane for the two-handed dunk. (0:20)
The Virginia Tech Hokies were held to 47 points by No. 23 NC State on Saturday — and won by 23 points.
The Wolfpack scored the fewest points by a ranked team in the shot clock era in a 47-24 loss to the No. 12 Hokies after shooting 16.7 percent from the field — the Wolfpack’s lowest field-goal percentage in school history, according to ESPN Stats & Information.
NC State didn’t hit double-digits until Jericole Hellems‘ basket with 5:40 left in the first half, which stunningly trimmed Virginia Tech’s lead to two points. C.J. Bryce brought the Wolfpack to 19 points with 18:35 remaining in the game, but they didn’t make another field goal for nearly 12 minutes. The Wolfpack made three shots in the second half.
After not scoring fewer than 15 points in a half in the past 10 seasons, per ESPN Stats & Information, NC State was held below 15 points in both halves.
The Wolfpack’s starting backcourt of Markell Johnson and Braxton Beverly combined to shoot 0-for-17 from the field.
From a historical perspective, the Wolfpack scored their fewest number of points since joining the ACC, which was formed before the 1953-54 season. The previous low for NC State was a 12-point effort against Duke in the 1968 ACC tournament — in a game the Wolfpack won.
NC State came up shy of scoring the fewest points by any team in the shot clock era, as George Washington scored just 20 in a game against Saint Louis in 2008, according to ESPN Stats & Information.