The Virginia Tech Hokies won the turnover battle on Saturday, but otherwise didn't do much, losing 96-81 to the No. 7 North Carolina Tarheels.
Tech stayed strong, scoring the first five points of the game behind sophomore guard MJ Collins. However, UNC scored 10 points after that and never trailed again. The first 10 minutes were a back-and-forth affair between both teams, with the Tar Heels holding the lead.
UNC forward Harrison Ingram scored with 9:08 left in the first half to give North Carolina an 11-point lead. That lead grew to 14 points at 34-20 as the Hokies began to gradually increase their lead.
Hokies freshman guard Jade Young sank two free throws to cut North Carolina's lead to 44-39. Unfortunately, the Hokies were unable to score the rest of the half and entered halftime with a 50-30 lead.
The second half continued in a similar fashion, with Virginia Tech cutting the lead against UNC to less than 10 points, but each time the Heels went on mini-runs to extend the lead to double digits.
North Carolina had too much activity in the paint for VT, as Tar Heels senior Armando Bacot led all scorers with 25 points. He also had 12 rebounds. He also had a double-double for Ingram, with 12 points and 17 rebounds. UNC senior guard RJ Davis scored 20 points for the Heels.
Neither team was impressive from beyond the arc, as Virginia Tech made just 7 of 26 attempts while UNC made 7 of 21 attempts. As a team, the Hokies shot 41.8 percent from the field, while Carolina shot over 51 percent. Advantage in painting. Unsurprisingly, the Tar Heels dominated the glass with his 43-31 advantage.
Collins led the Hokies with 18 points and was Virginia Tech's most impressive performer along with senior big man Mairijael Poteet. Poteat continued his recent stellar play off the bench, leading the Hokies with 15 points and eight rebounds.
Sophomore wing Tyler Nickel scored 14 points off the bench against his former team against Tech. Lynn Kidd and Hunter Kattore scored 11 points, and Sean Pedulla added 10 points. Pedula and Kattoa struggled from the field, making 6-of-23 from the field and just 1-of-10 from 3-point range.
Against a team with such a dominant frontcourt, Virginia Tech can't afford to have its top two guards shoot that poorly from the field. It was another encouraging performance from Collins, who continues to gain confidence in his shot.
Tech fell to 14-11 and 6-8 in the ACC. The Hokies' next game is Monday at home against No. 21 Virginia. The Cavaliers defeated the Hokies 65-57 in Charlottesville last month.
