North Carolina went on a 22-6 in the first half to overcome a deficit and never trailed again as the Tar Heels hit free throws down the stretch to stop host Virginia Tech 65-57. (2/19)
It was Carolina’s first Quad 1 victory of the year, helping to offset the bad home loss to Pittsburgh earlier in the week.
“One of the things I love about our guys is that they always bounce back,” UNC coach Hubert Davis said. “We stepped up when a play needed to be made.”
The Tar Heels trailed 22-16 with under eight minutes left in the first half but guards R.J. Davis and Caleb Love stepped up to lead the 22-6 run.
The hot-shooting Panthers shot 60 percent in the first half as opposed to Carolina’s 27 percent to take a 40-23 halftime lead. A step-back long two from the left side by Love put Carolina up 25-24. Davis, who had been razzed mercilessly by VT students for badly missing a shot earlier, hit a three from the left with 4:36 left to prompt a Hokie timeout.
It didn’t much help as the Tar Heels continued hot. Love and Davis hit back-to-back threes to go up 38-28 before settling for a 38-30 halftime lead.
Five minutes into the second half, Love hit a deep, step-back three to give the Heels their largest lead of the day at 47-33.
But the Hokies crawled back in it as Carolina went cold and turned the ball over six times in a relatively short period of time as Virginia Tech pulled to within five with under seven minutes to go.
A couple of nice plays that ended in a layup by Armando Bacot and a dunk for Brady Manek put Carolina back up by nine with 4:20 to go.
Virginia Tech was never able to get closer than seven the rest of the way as Carolina hit eight free throws in a row down the stretch.
Love scored 21 points to lead all scorers. Three other Tar Heels also scored in double figures – Manek had 14, Bacot had 12, all in the second half, and Davis had 10, all in the first half.
Virginia Tech, now 16-11 overall and 8-8 in the ACC, hit 10 three pointers, were led by Keve Aluma’s 16 points.
North Carolina, now 19-8 overall and 11-5 in the ACC, hosts Louisville on Monday night. The Heels recently topped Louisville in a hard-fought overtime victory on the road.
For a box score and more on the game, please click here.