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CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - Kyle Guy scored 29 points, including seven 3-pointers, and second-ranked Virginia rallied to beat NC State 76-56 in Thursday's quarterfinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament.
Big man Jack Salt provided an unexpected offensive boost with a career-high 18 points for the top-seeded Cavaliers (29-2), who trailed 29-27 at halftime. But Virginia shot 63 percent after the break and scored 49 points, with long runs of efficient offense to go with tough defense.
Guy made 10 of 13 shots and 7 of 9 from 3-point range for Virginia, which is trying to win back-to-back tournament titles. That was enough offense to offset a rough shooting day for Ty Jerome, who had two points on 1-for-11 shooting but had 10 assists.
Markell Johnson had 13 points to lead the eighth-seeded Wolfpack (22-11), who shot 39 percent and made only 15 of 25 free throws.
BIG PICTURE
NC State: The Wolfpack arrived in Charlotte on the NCAA Tournament bubble and on the cut line for many mock brackets. But NC State helped itself with Wednesday's second-round win against fellow bubble team Clemson. NC State had a good start in pursuit of an even bigger win, leading by six midway through the first half. But the team faded after halftime, shooting 8 of 21 after the break and missing too many free throws.
Virginia: While Guy's shooting led the way, Salt's performance was perhaps even more welcome. The 6-foot-10, 250-pound New Zealander provides primarily a physical interior presence and had cracked double figures in scoring just once all season, including five straight scoreless games coming into Charlotte. But he made 7 of 8 shots - including an off-balance driving reverse layup while drawing a foul - to go with six rebounds. Getting reliable interior production from him behind Guy, Jerome and De'Andre Hunter would be a significant boost to Virginia's postseason chances.
UP NEXT
NC State: The Wolfpack will await its postseason fate on Selection Sunday.
Virginia: The Cavaliers advanced to Saturday's semifinals.
NOTES
Top-seeded Virginia (29-2) advances to Friday’s 7 p.m. semifinal game against the winner of Friday’s second quarterfinal game between fourth-seeded Florida State and fifth-seeded Virginia Tech … The Cavaliers downed the Seminoles 65-52 in the lone regular-season meeting between the teams on Jan. 5 … Virginia swept two from Virginia Tech, winning 81-59 at home on Jan. 15 and by a 64-48 score in Blacksburg on Feb. 18.
Virginia is now 9-2 all-time as the ACC Tournament’s No. 1 seed and is advancing to the semifinal round for the fifth time in the last six years.
The Cavaliers improved to 42-62 all time in the ACC Tournament and to 25-36 in the quarterfinal round.
NC State (22-11) slipped to 72-56 all-time in the ACC Tournament and to 33-23 in the quarterfinal round … The Wolfpack is now 5-6 as a No. 8 seed.
Virginia is now 3-14 all-time versus NC State in the ACC Tournament, but currently owns an eight-game winning streak in the overall series and is 13-2 versus the Wolfpack under current head coach Tony Bennett.
Junior Kyle Guy led Virginia with 29 points on Thursday on 10-of-13 shooting from the floor, including 7-of-9 from 3-point range … Guy’s seven 3-pointers are the most by a Virginia player in an ACC Tournament game, topping the six by Curtis Staples (on 11 attempts) in the 1996 quarterfinals.
Redshirt senior center Jack Salt stepped up for the Cavaliers with a career high 12 points on 7-for-8 shooting from the floor … Salt scored 15 points in the second half, when Virginia pulled away after trailing 29-27 at the break … Salt had one double-figure scoring on the season prior to Saturday – the season – and career-high 12-point game in a win at Maryland in the ACC-Big Challenge on Nov. 28.
Ty Jerome handed out 10 assists … it marked the Virginia point guard’s fourth double-digit assist game of the season and his second in the Cavaliers’ last three outings.
With 16 points, Virginia sophomore De’Andre Hunter scored in double figures for the 17th time in the last 18 games.
Markell Johnson led NC State with 13 points and averaged 18 points in two 2019 ACC Tournament games.
Sophomore D.J. Funderburk added 12 points for the Wolfpack, giving him 16 double-digit scoring games for the year.