Never trailing and up by as much as 19 points, NC State closed out the Hokies on Tuesday night to improve their overall record to 15-7 on the year and pull even in ACC conference play with a 4-4 record.

The win marked the sixth straight win for NC State against Virginia Tech, dating back almost four years. The win was impressive by State as forward Brandon Costner set this one out with a rib injury that he suffered during practice this week.

So why does the Wolfpack seem to have the Hokies number?

“I don’t know, man, that’s a good question,” Hokies junior guard A.D. Vassallo said. “They just know how to beat us, I guess.” –Washington Post

Freshman phenom J.J. Hickson probably had something to do with it, throwing down 21 points to lead all scorers. Courtney Fells tossed in 14 and Javier Gonzalez added a season high 11. If that wasn’t enough, the ‘Pack shot 54% from the field on Tuesday as an encore performance from last year’s victory where they shot a lights-out 66% against Tech.

Despite great shooting, Hickson cites team chemistry as the key to State’s recent success..

“Right now, we are playing with a lot of confidence,” Hickson said. “We are playing with more chemistry. Brandon didn’t play tonight, but he is still in here with us. We just have to play harder and win these two road games.” –Raleigh Chronicle

The Wolfpack heads to College Park to take on the Terrapins, Saturday at 8:00 PM.

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