No. 9 Tar Heels beat Hokies 91-72 for 7th straight win

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Virginia Tech fell to #6 North Carolina 91-72 in Chapel Hill on Thursday night.

The Hurricanes (13-6, 3-4 ACC) will be facing a different kind of challenge when they take on the conference-leading Tar Heels (19-3, 9-1) after hanging on for a 78-77 victory over perimeter-oriented Boston College in their last outing.

“We do want to score in transition, but we’ve been giving up too many points in transition”, Virginia Tech coach Buzz Williams said. “We’ve got a lot more season left”.

“I think you look deeper in this game”, Britt said. The North Carolina Tar Heels are shooting 37.4 percent from beyond the arc and 71.3 percent from the free throw line. Berry was 0-for-8 from the field and had a tough time staying in front of Miami’s Bruce Brown (30 points) and Ja’Quan Newton (18 points) in pick-and-roll situations.

North Carolina was fortunate enough to have a big enough lead in the first half not to really need Pinson in the final 20 minutes. The Tar Heels trailed 39-22 at half, their largest halftime deficit of the season. In fact, this was the second game in a row Virginia Tech allowed their opponent to make eight threes in the first half.

“I think they have elite level players and an elite level coach”.

“When you come out and your teammate misses a shot and you fight around and box out to try and get the ball, the ball is going to come to you sooner or later”.

“I know a lot of guys on this team are confident so whenever they get into that position to make a 3, they feel like they’re going to make it every time”, said Jackson, who finished with a game-high 26 points.

Despite what was a well-rounded offensive performance, Williams was less than pleased with his team on the defensive end.

The Hurricanes built up a 17-point first-half lead and never saw the margin drop to single digits again, easily improving to 4-4 in conference play. It’s not a bad place to be, given there are 347 NCAA Division I basketball teams, but at times UNC goes through cold stretches – ones in which shots, even close ones, bounce awry more often than not. Although the Cavaliers leaned heavily on one superstar-Olympic gold medalist Leah Smith-the Tar Heels possess multiple swimmers who can push Abel, including senior Liliana Casso and freshman Natalie Ward.

Guard Justin Robinson contributed 14 points and seven assists for Tech, while forward Zach LeDay had 12 points.

No. 9 North Carolina is putting up big offensive numbers, knocking down 3-pointers and hitting the glass better than any team in the country. He continues to be evaluated, and Williams said he hoped to have clarity about Pinson’s status “in the next few days”.

Allen led three Hokies in double figures with 19 points and five assists.

Pinson missed the 16 games this season while recovering from a broken bone in the same right foot.