North Carolina State Wolfpack vs Virginia Cavaliers Prediction, 3/12/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: NC State Wolfpack vs Virginia Cavaliers

Date: Thursday, March 12, 2026

Location: Spectrum Center in Charlotte, NC

TV: ESPN2

The NC State Wolfpack (19-12) are headed to Spectrum Center on Thursday where they will attempt to defeat the Virginia Cavaliers (27-4) in the ACC Tournament.

The NC State Wolfpack took the court against Stanford and walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 85-84 in their last contest. In the matter of personal fouls, the Wolfpack walked away with 13 while Stanford finished the game with 19 personal fouls. They knocked down 11 of 29 tries from 3-point range. Stanford walked away from this one shooting 72.7% when shooting free throws by knocking down 8 of 11 shots. Additionally, Stanford pulled down 33 rebounds (12 offensive, 21 defensive), but wasn't able to record a rejection. Stanford dished out 10 dimes and had 11 steals for the contest. Pertaining to the defense, North Carolina State allowed 48.5% from the floor on 33 of 68 shooting. They also doled out 9 assists for the matchup in addition to forcing 7 turnovers and earning 6 steals. In the matter of rebounding, they compiled 31 with 10 of them being offensive. At the free throw line, the Wolfpack made 25 of 34 attempts for a rate of 73.5%. North Carolina State ended the game having earned a 48.1% field goal percentage (26 out of 54) and buried 7 of their 20 three-point attempts.

Ven-Allen Lubin is a player who was important for this contest. He was able to score 17 points on 6 of 8 shooting. He played 34 mins played and also totaled 11 rebounds. He finished the contest at 75.0% from the floor but wasn't able to get an assist.

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North Carolina State enters this one with a win-loss mark of 19-12 so far this year. They cough up possession 9.3 times per contest and as a team are committing 18.2 fouls per game. As a team, North Carolina State is pulling down 35.0 boards per game and has earned 487 assists on the season, which has them ranked 92nd in college in terms of passing. The Wolfpack are hitting 38.0% on 3-pointers (318 of 836) and 76.0% from the charity stripe. They average 83.5 pts per contest (29th in the country) while hitting 46.7% from the field.

When they are on defense, the Wolfpack are forcing 12.9 turnovers per contest while drawing 17.0 fouls. They are giving up 35.0% from 3-point land while they are 236th in the country in points per game allowed (76.0). The Wolfpack defensively are giving up an opponent shooting percentage of 44.6% (806 of 1,809) and they relinquish 35.9 rebounds per game as a squad. They rank 107th in the nation in allowing assists to the opposition with 395 relinquished this year.

The last time they took the court, the Virginia Cavaliers took home the win by a final score of 76-72 against Virginia Tech. The Cavaliers were able to pull down 23 defensive rebounds and 11 offensive boards for a total of 34 in the matchup. They gave up possession of the ball 12 times, while earning 8 steals in this game. Virginia Tech committed 17 fouls for this contest which got the Cavaliers to the charity stripe for 17 attempts. They were able to bury 15 of the free throw attempts for a rate of 88.2%. With regard to shooting from downtown, Virginia buried 9 of 25 tries (36.0%). When the final whistle blew, the Cavaliers shot 26 out of 58 from the field which had them at 44.8%. The Cavaliers permitted Virginia Tech to convert 26 out of 62 attempts from the field which gave them a rate of 41.9% in this contest. They finished 25.0% from three-point range by shooting 8 out of 32 and finished the contest at 12 of 16 at the free throw line (75.0%). Regarding rebounding, Virginia permitted Virginia Tech to collect 28 in all (11 on the offensive side).

Malik Thomas ended up being a factor for the Cavaliers for the game. He converted 6 out of 9 for the contest for a field goal rate of 66.7%, and accumulated 2 rebounds. He had 16 points in his 24 minutes of playing time, but didn't record an assist.

Virginia has a mark of 27-4 this season. On the offensive side of the ball, the Cavaliers are shooting 46.1% from the field, which is ranked 128th in the nation. Virginia has accounted for 2,507 points this year (80.9 per contest) and they collect 40.8 boards per game. They are assisting teammates 16.8 times per contest (36th in Division 1) and they are losing possession via turnover 10.8 times per contest. The Cavaliers have committed 17.6 personal fouls every game while shooting 71.8% from the free throw line.

The Cavaliers on defense are ranked 45th in Division 1 in points allowed per contest with 68.3. They are forcing 10.7 turnovers on a nightly basis and have let teams shoot 39.7% from the floor (14th in Division 1). The Virginia defense surrenders 30.5% on shots from 3-point land (210 of 688) and opponents are connecting on 74.7% of their shots from the free throw line. They allow 11.8 dimes and 32.7 rebounds per game, which ranks them 56th and 78th in the country.

Who will win tonight's NCAA game against the spread?

Tony Sink's Pick: Take North Carolina State

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