The UNC men’s basketball team (20-11, ACC 13-6) defeated Virginia Tech (13-17, ACC 8-11), 91-59, in Cassell Coliseum on Tuesday night, rounding off its regular season road game slate and extending its win streak to a season-high six games.
The Tar Heels dominated the Hokies, hitting a season-high 15 three-pointers as a team. First-year guard Ian Jackson knocked down a season-high five and junior forward Ven-Allen Lubin notched his first double-double as a Tar Heel.
The first points of the game came from Lubin who was fed the layup by sophomore guard Elliot Cadeau. Back-to-back threes by first-year guard Drake Powell and graduate guard RJ Davis set up an early five point lead for the Tar Heels.
A pair of threes by the Hokies tied the game at eight. Ben Burnham's shot from deep gave Virginia Tech its first lead.
Junior guard Seth Trimble blocked Brandon Rechsteiner’s layup and made his own on the other side of the court to put UNC up 16-13 at the second media timeout.
A combination of missed three-pointers and turnovers by the Tar Heels gave the Hokies the ability to tie the game again at 21. A foul on Cadeau sent Tyler Johnson to the line, where he made his two free throws to give VT a 23-21 advantage.
A Jackson layup ignited a 6-0 scoring run for the Tar Heels, where both Powell and Davis drilled back-to-back layups. Coupled with turnovers and fouls by Virginia Tech, UNC held a 31-25 lead.
With about three minutes remaining of the first half, Davis drilled another three-pointer. This kickstarted a 15-1 scoring run — topped off by Trimble slamming in a dunk — to end the first half up 46-29. At the break, Davis was 3-for-4 from beyond the arc, leading the team with 15 points.
It was Cadeau who claimed the first points of the second, driving in a layup and extending the lead to 19 points.
