Wahoo Wire

When Will Sherrill hobbled to the Virginia sidelines in the second half of his team’s loss at Miami, things looked dim for the senior captain. He had already spent the last month nursing a fractured right fibula and was just starting to feel comfortable moving around the court again. While he tried to remain optimistic, Sherrill didn’t know if he was ever going to be able to provide the level of play that he knew he was capable of again.

He got his answer on Tuesday night’s Senior Day game against NC State.

Starting his first game since January 19^th, Sherrill opened play by draining two straight three pointers, helping Virginia open up to a 16-0 lead in the first 4:32 of the game. He finished the contest 4-5 from behind the arc, connecting for 14 points and pulling down a game-high eight rebounds.

“It was a great night. I was really happy to have my family here, and the ceremony before the game was great. I was feeling good about my shot yesterday and today in the shoot-around, and I knew the match-ups would give me an opportunity to get some open shots. I was feeling pretty confident.”

While Sherrill, the unsung hero, may have stolen the spotlight for most of the game, senior counterpart Mustapha Farrakhan also provided a spark for the ‘Hoos in their 69-58 victory over the visiting Wolfpack.

Farrakhan, who has emerged as a go-to scorer for the Wahoos throughout the season and has become a real leader both on and off the court, added 15 points of his own, including a monster cross-over to dunk combo that was reminiscent of last year’s facial on NCSU’s Javier Gonzalez. He also added four rebounds and three assists.

The Wolfpack, who generally rely on a freshman-heavy attack, had its young studs kept in check by the Wahoos patented pack-line defense. Senior guard Javier Gonzalez led NC State in scoring, tallying 16 points in 25 minutes of play.

“He’s never going to quit,” said NC State head coach Sidney Lowe of Gonzalez’s play. “He led us tonight. He led us with the communication, with the energy.”

Despite Gonzalez’s play, the Wolfpack just couldn’t overcome Virginia’s torrential three-point shooting attack, which was spearheaded both by Sherrill and freshman Joe Harris, who finished with a game-high 19 points.

The Cavaliers travel to College Park on Saturday for a regular season-ending game against Maryland, which is scheduled to start at 2PM.