GREENSBORO, N.C. – In the 2020 New York Life ACC Tournament first round, the Virginia Tech men's basketball team fell to North Carolina 78-56 on Tuesday Night inside Greensboro Coliseum.
The Hokies (16-16), seeking a season sweep over the Tar Heels (14-18) for the first time since 2007, came up short, making Tech 10-16 all-time in the tourney and 9-7 in its first game played. Carolina has now defeated Tech all three times the two have met in the tourney.
For the Hokies, freshman Hunter Cattoor led the team in scoring for just the second time all season with 14 points. Redshirt freshman Landers Nolley II added 10 points and guard Jalen Cone posted 11. Junior Wabissa Bede dished out five assists and forward John Ojiako grabbed seven boards.
The Tar Heels had four players reach double figures, including second-team All-ACC pick Garrison Brooks, who recorded 20 or more points for the seventh straight game. Guard Brandon Robinson collected 17 points and grabbed six boards.
UNC controlled the paint, outrebounding the Hokies 45-30 and outscoring Tech in paint points 32-12. The Tar Heels saw production from behind the arc as well shooting over 50 percent from downtown.
THE GAME
The Tar Heels jumped out to an early lead, going up 12-4 before freshman Cone ended the run, sinking a 3-pointer to bring Tech within five. The Hokies looked to regain momentum midway through the first with Cone and forward P.J. Horne each hitting triples.
North Carolina answered Tech around every corner as it went on a 5-0 surge, giving them a 28-18 advantage with six minutes to go before the half. Nolley drilled a clutch shot with just seconds remaining to bring the score to 32-26 at the break.
Pursuing a rhythm in the second half, Cattoor capitalized in the corner by hitting a 3 followed by Cone making three straight free throws to bring the score to 46-36.
Looking to put the contest away, the Tar Heels' Robinson hit back-to-back shots from behind the arc, pushing North Carolina's lead to 63-43. UNC would not look back and go on to win 78-56.
QUOTING MIKE YOUNG
On given the circumstances of being the ACC's youngest and shortest team, how he would assess his first season:
"You know what, pretty good. Considering what I found on April 8th with good players graduating, 7-13 is never going to be good enough in Blacksburg nor should it be. 16-16 is never going to be good enough in Blacksburg, nor should it be. But to cobble that together and do so with some really quality people and scrap and claw and some great moments, some not-so-great moments, but we're off and running now, if you will. Things are in place. The foundation is in place.
"We start back with our spring workouts and it's not new. We have done it. We know what we're looking at now. We know how things are going to operate and how we're going to run. And I am looking forward to that. I'll be honest with you now, there were times I thought I was hanging on for dear life trying to get a little bit more and we did. We had a tough stretch late January, February. This isn't the best league to be young and small in. As many of you that have covered this league for many years, I'm not sure that there's a league in America that's good to be young and small. We're going to look a lot different a year from now, I can assure you of that."
NOTES
- Cattoor hit four 3-pointers for the second consecutive game.
- Nolley recorded double figures in scoring for the 25th time this year with 10 points.
- Cone registered 11 points, marking the 12th time this year he has gotten to double-digits in points. Cone also had two 3s giving him 11 over his last five.
- Tech saw similar production from its bench that did all season long, with the bench scoring 29 points to mark the 21st time this season it has scored 20 or more points.
- Tech hit 10 triples, marking the fourth straight game it has reached double figures in 3s made and the 16th time this season.Gallery: (3/10/2020) 2020 MEN'S BASKETBALL ACC CHAMPIONSHIP
