Robinson, Virginia Tech dice up the Wolfpack 85-75

NC State’s gameplan was to go inside early and often against the smaller Hokies. That plan went out the door pretty fast when Omer Yurtseven picked up his second foul within the first 5 minutes.

Without Yurtseven, NC State was forced to play small ball against the best small ball team in the ACC. That didn’t work out so well and NC State fell 85-75 to the Hokies.

Justin Robinson absolutely ruined the Wolfpack. His ability to get into the lane created havoc and led to miscommunications and missed assignments. This is why State’s bigs were in foul trouble all game and why Robinson finished with a career-high 32 points on the night.

NC State didn’t shoot it great, but it wasn’t their offense that failed them on this night, it was their defense. Robinson’s ability to get wherever he wanted, whenever he wanted, helped the Hokies get open looks, leading to an amazing 63.5% night from the floor.

Before the game, we told you Virginia Tech was going to shoot it at a high percentage (we didn’t envision it being this high), but it was up to the Pack to win the battle of the turnovers and on the offensive glass. State did win on the offensive glass, but they turned it over 15 times to the Hokies’ 11.

This stings, but it wasn’t really a bad loss for the Pack. In fact, of the rest of their games, this was the one that they were least likely to win (according to Ken Pom).

Next up is UNC this Saturday at 2pm.