Sam Hauser hit a clutch 3-point shot shortly after No. 14 Virginia fell behind and he finished with 18 points as the visiting Cavaliers withstood North Carolina State for a 64-57 victory Wednesday night in Raleigh, N.C.

Trey Murphy III also tallied 18 points while Jay Huff's 12 points also boosted first-place Virginia (12-3, 8-1 Atlantic Coast Conference). The Cavaliers were coming off a loss to Virginia Tech that ended their 15-game ACC winning streak.

Jericole Hellems notched a career-high 23 points before the junior fouled out for NC State (7-7, 3-6). The Wolfpack were playing their first home game since losing team scoring leader Devon Daniels to a season-ending knee injury a week earlier.

Virginia led 28-24 at halftime despite Hellems' 14 points. A 9-0 run late in the half boosted the Cavaliers into the lead. They stretched the advantage to 43-34 before a response from the Wolfpack, with D.J. Funderburk's dunk capping a 10-0 spurt for NC State.

The Cavaliers had an eight-minute second-half stretch without a field goal snapped by Hauser's 3-pointer at the 5:38 mark. Huff's three-point play extended the lead to 55-48.

Virginia made 20 of 22 free throws, including Hauser and Murphy both going 6-for-6.

Funderburk, a forward, returned to action for the Wolfpack after missing Sunday night's loss at Syracuse because of "university policies," according to the team. He scored six straight NC State points in the second half.

NC State produced a 9-0 run for a 22-19 lead, with Hellems collecting 14 points by that time.

Virginia has pulled out victories in its last seven road games in the series.

NC State and Virginia will meet again Feb. 24 at Virginia in a matchup announced earlier Wednesday when the ACC made several schedule adjustments. That will be a makeup game for a postponed Jan. 20 pairing that was nixed because of NC State's coronavirus issues.

--Field Level Media