RALEIGH, N.C. — Hunter Cattore had 19 points, Sean Pedula had 13 points and eight assists, and Virginia Tech defeated North Carolina State 84-78 on Saturday.
Pedula's 3-pointer with seven minutes left in the second half gave Virginia Tech a 56-54 lead. It was the last of 15 lead changes and came near midway through the game when the Hokies had eight straight shots. The last two were two 3-pointers by Kattoa to give the Hokies a 70-58 lead.
Mohamed Diarra's layup gave the Wolfpack a 75-69 lead with 1:37 left, but Virginia Tech made 7 of 8 free throws in the final half to win.
Kattoa made three 3-pointers, 4 of 8 overall and 8 of 10 from the free throw line.
Lynn Kidd had 14 points, Tyler Nickell had 12 points and Robby Beran had 11 points for the Hokies (11-7, 3-4 ACC). Virginia Tech shot 53 percent and made 23 of 28 free throws. Pedula committed eight of the Hokies' 20 turnovers.
North Carolina State (13-5, 5-2), off to its best start in league play since the 1988-89 season, got 19 points from Casey Morsell, 16 from DJ Horn and 15 from Jayden Taylor. Obtained. Morsell made 9 of 10 free throws and Taylor made 7 of 8 from the line. The Wolfpack made 20 of 24 free throws.
There were nine lead changes in the first half. The Wolfpack took their largest lead of the first half with the first six points of the game, and Virginia Tech went on an 8-0 run to take its largest lead at 23-16 with just under eight minutes left. The Wolfpack trailed on all but one possession at the end of the first half, but Breon Pass hit a 3-pointer with four seconds left to pull within 33-32 at halftime.
Virginia Tech hosts Boston College on Tuesday. North Carolina State is at Virginia on Wednesday.
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