By Aaron Beard

Associated Press

RALEIGH — J.R. Reynolds scored 24 of his 29 points in the second half Wednesday night to lead Virginia past North Carolina State 71-58.

Sean Singletary added 27 points and nine rebounds for the Cavaliers (12-6, 4-2 ACC), who have won three straight games.

Brandon Costner scored 14 points to lead the Wolfpack (11-8, 1-5), who has lost four of five games to slide near the bottom of the league standings.

N.C. State had won eight of the past nine here in the series, but the Cavaliers rode their preseason all-ACC guards to a big road win. Singletary, a 6-foot junior, went 9-for-18 from the field and 5-for-10 from 3-point range to cause problems for the Wolfpack all night at the point.

But Reynolds, a 6-2 senior who was coming off a 40-point game in a weekend win against Wake Forest, was even better in the second half. Reynolds went 9-for-15 from the field and 5-for-8 from behind the arc for the game, but scored 20 of 22 points for Virginia after N.C. State had cut a

12-point deficit to one point midway through the half.

Ultimately, the Cavaliers needed every bit of it. The Wolfpack hung around into the final minutes despite shooting 32 percent and going 11-for-20 from the foul line.

With his team holding a 42-41 lead, Reynolds opened his stretch with a fadeaway jumper over the outstretched arms of 6-7 Gavin Grant with 10:53 left, then hit consecutive 3s over Grant and 6-7 Dennis Horner to make it 52-44 with 8:38 to play.

Reynolds kept pouring it on from there, draining a fadeaway jumper over Courtney Fells and a 3 off a feed from Singletary. Then, after faking a drive to spin Fells around, Reynolds knocked down a 3-pointer from the left wing to make it 60-51 with about 2 1/2 minutes left.

Reynolds hit four straight free throws to close his personal spurt, giving Virginia a 64-56 lead with 1:01 left.

The duo got little help for the game; the rest of the Cavaliers combined to shoot

6-for-23.

Maryland 80, Ga. Tech 65

COLLEGE PARK, Md. — James Gist scored 16 of his career-high 26 points in the pivotal first half, and Maryland handed Georgia Tech its 16th straight road loss, 80-65.

Gist made all six of his field-goal tries and the Terrapins went 16-for-31 in building a 43-26 halftime lead. Maryland (16-5, 2-4 ACC) never let the margin slip below 11 points in the second half.

Gist, a junior forward, surpassed his previous career high of 18 points with a layup that made it 62-48 with 7:58 left. He went 10-for-11 from the floor.

D.J. Strawberry scored 13 and Eric Hayes had 12 points and seven assists.

Thaddeus Young led Georgia Tech (13-6, 2-4) with 21 points. The Yellow Jackets haven’t won a road game since Feb. 26, 2005, and they never led in this one.