RALEIGH, N.C. -- Three days after reaching his career high and the ACC's season high in a 40-point performance against Wake Forest, J.R. Reynolds did the unthinkable Wednesday night.

He came up with an encore.

Reynolds, a senior guard from Roanoke, Va., scored 18 straight points for Virginia when the game was on the line and led the Cavaliers to their first road victory in more than a year, 71-58, at North Carolina State.

Reynolds, who had matching 20-point halves against Wake Forest, had 24 of his game-high 29 points in the second half. During one 22-point Virginia stretch, he scored 20 points and had the assist on the only basket he did not score.

Virginia (12-6, 4-2 ACC) had not won on the road since Jan. 15, 2006, when it won at Virginia Tech 54-49. Since then, UVa had lost 10 consecutive road games, including its first three this year.

"I never would have thought, after a 40-point performance, that he had come back better," UVa coach Dave Leitao said. "But, this 29 today was better than 40 the other day."

When made aware of Leitao's comment, Reynolds said, "I'd have to agree. We really needed this one."

Reynolds and Sean Singletary had combined for 59 points Sunday in the Cavaliers' 88-76 victory over Wake Forest, and they had 56 against the Wolfpack (11-8, 1-5).

"We'll go as far as our two guards take us," Leitao said. "Sean's display early and J.R.'s display in the second half were nothing short of phenomenal."

"On a day where the other guys behind them didn't have great games at all, they were able not only to stabilize us but make big shot after big shot."

Virginia missed 15 straight shots from the field during one stretch of the first half but was able to grab a 26-19 halftime lead when Singletary drained a 3-point shot from the left wing with 3.8 seconds remaining.

Singletary, who was 6-of-14 from the field while his teammates went 4-for-21, had 15 points and nine rebounds in the first half.

Singletary's first-half buzzer-beating shot followed an attention-grabbing timeout with 24.5 seconds left, when coach Leitao cracked a clipboard over his knee. It probably had something to do with the Cavaliers' offensive ineptitude because it was defense that kept UVa in the game.

State was buoyed by the return of Engin Atsur, a senior point guard who had missed 12 of the previous 13 games while rehabilitating a November hamstring injury.

The Cavaliers went on top 42-30 following a Singletary 3-pointer early in the second half, but State awakened from its doldrums by scoring nine points in a 90-second span. That included a 3-point field goal by Brandon Costner, a four-point play by Costner and a steal and tomahawk dunk by Ben McCauley.

State had a chance to take the lead when Bryan Niemann stepped to the free-throw line with 11:18 left, but Niemann missed both of his attempts.

Reynolds, who had seven points at the time, hit a jumper to give the Virginia a 44-41 lead and was to score 22 points in the final 10:57.

VIRGINIA (12-6, 4-2)

Reynolds 9-15 6-6 29, Mikalauskas 3-3 0-0 6, Diane 1-7 0-0 2, Cain 1-4 3-4 5, Singletary 9-18 4-4 27, Harris 0-3 0-2 0, Tucker 0-0 0-0 0, Soroye 1-2 0-2 2, Joseph 0-2 0-0 0, Tat 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 24-56 13-18 71.

N.C. STATE (11-8, 1-5)

Fells 5-14 0-0 11, Atsur 3-7 0-0 9, Horner 0-2 0-0 0, Costner 3-13 6-7 14, McCauley 4-13 3-5 11, Davis 0-0 0-0 0, Grant 3-10 2-6 8, Ferguson 1-1 0-0 2, Nieman 1-3 0-2 3. Totals 20-63 11-20 58.

Halftime--Virginia 26-19. 3-point goals--Virginia 10-25 (Reynolds 5-8, Singletary 5-10, Harris 0-1, Joseph 0-2, Diane 0-4), N.C. State 7-27 (Atsur 3-7, Costner 2-8, Nieman 1-2, Fells 1-6, Horner 0-1, Grant 0-3). Fouled Out--Grant. Rebounds--Virginia 44 (Cain 12), N.C. State 38 (Fells 10). Assists--Virginia 11 (Singletary 4), N.C. State 12 (McCauley 4). Total Fouls--Virginia 19, N.C. State 15. A--15,233.