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No. 11 North Carolina crushes No. 10 Virginia Tech in battle for top spot in ACC

Posted at 11:18 PM, Jan 21, 2019
and last updated 2019-01-21 23:18:27-05

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (HokieSports.com) – Despite scoring 80-plus points in consecutive league games, the No. 10/8 Virginia Tech men’s basketball team fell on the road to No. 11/12 North Carolina 103-82 on Monday night at the Dean Smith Center.

North Carolina smothers Virginia Tech. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)

The Hokies (15-3, 4-2 ACC) were led by four players in double figures, but the Tar Heels (15-4, 5-1) had five of their own with 10-plus points, including Coby White’s game-high 27 points.

Kerry Blackshear Jr. led the way on the offensive end for Tech, pulling down a career-high 17 rebounds, including 10 offensive, and pouring in 19 points. Ahmed Hill recorded a team-high 20 points, Nickeil Alexander-Walker owned 19 points and Justin Robinson posted 17 points.

Tech got off to a fast start, scoring 19 points in the first seven minutes of play, with 15 of those 19 points coming from downtown to gain an eight-point lead at 19-11. After the flurries from beyond the arc, Alexander-Walker earned his second foul with 10 minutes left and Robinson picked up his third foul with nine minutes remaining in the first half.

The guards would head to the bench in foul trouble, and the Tar Heels would proceed to go on a 27-9 run to take a 45-31 lead into halftime.

Tech would cut the deficit to 14 points after Kerry Blackshear Jr. sank two free throws at 16:16, but that would be as close as the Hokies got it after intermission.