UNC loses tough one in double overtime to Virginia Tech
When the clock expired in North Carolina’s 79-77 double overtime loss to Virginia Tech, Garrison Brooks bent over, then sat down on the hardwood floor.
He looked dazed.
After 50 minutes of back and forth action, Brooks was exhausted. Brooks scored 28 points, grabbed 13 rebounds and had 6 assists in 48 minutes on Wednesday. It was one of his best performances of the season.
But even that was not enough, as the Tar Heels dropped their fifth consecutive game.
The Tar Heels led by seven points with about four minutes left, but Virginia Tech chipped away at the lead and sent it to overtime after two clutch free throws by P.J. Horne.
In overtime, the Tar Heels led by two points with 51.7 seconds left and had the ball. But they failed to score, which allowed Virginia Tech to tie the game on the next possession and send it to double overtime.
Then in double overtime, Tyrece Radford made a running layup with 0.4 seconds left to take the lead and win the game.
It was his only basket.
“We had our chances,” UNC coach Roy Williams said. “They made more of the good, winning plays than we did.”
The Tar Heels (8-10, 1-6 ACC) have not won since Dec. 30 against Yale, which is also how long Williams has been tied with his mentor Dean Smith for fourth-most wins all-time.
But this was the closest they’ve gotten since then.
UNC grad transfer Justin Pierce had one of his better performances, too. He scored 15 points.
The Tar Heels led the Hokies 36-30 at halftime. They utilized their size advantage in the first half and dominated in the post. Brooks had 15 points in the first half, which also opened up things for Pierce on the outside.
They led 49-37 with 13:18 left after a Pierce 3-pointer.
But over the next three minutes, the Tar Heels went cold and allowed Virginia Tech to go on an 8-0 run and cut the lead to four points.
“They did a really good job of not letting us get the ball inside,” Brooks said. “Credit to their coach, their team. They executed their game plan. I think they emphasized it at halftime and did a good job at it.”
From there, the two teams went back and forth.
Virginia Tech (14-5, 5-3) cut the lead to one point with about three minutes left after Jalen Cone knocked down a 3-pointer from the corner.
And the Hokies tied it with 13.7 seconds left after Horne’s two free throws. The Tar Heels had an opportunity to win it, but Brooks’ mid-range jump shot before the buzzer clanked off the back of the rim, sending the game to overtime.
The two teams went back and forth in the two overtimes. But ultimately, it was Virginia Tech that delivered the final blow.
“We fought to the end,” Brooks said. “We just missed a couple of plays. But I can live with the result. We gave it our all and just came up a little bit short.”
And one
The Tar Heels shot 51.6 percent from the floor in the first half. Why? They were able to get the ball close to the basket.
They scored 40 points in the paint. But they were a lot better in the paint in the first half than they were in the second.
“Obviously it sucks to lose, but we thought we competed a lot harder than we did the last time we played,” UNC freshman forward Armando Bacot said. “We got a couple of players coming back too, so we feel pretty good about the last stretch of our season.”
Personal foul
The Tar Heels allowed too many open 3’s.
Virginia Tech had some opportunities in the first half to make some 3-pointers, but the 3’s didn’t fall. In the second half, the Hokies made them.
After going 4 of 15 in the first half, the Hokies were 7 of 15 from 3 in the second half, and 3 of 7 in the overtime period.
“Mental lapses,” UNC sophomore guard Leaky Black said, when asked how Tech got in a groove. “Like losing Jalen Cone. Losing him, you can’t give him much space.”
ICYMI
UNC senior guard Brandon Robinson did not make the trip to Blacksburg. He was experiencing soreness in his neck after he was involved in a two-car accident on Jan. 11. The driver who hit Black was charged with a DUI.
Robinson played in UNC’s game against Pitt last Saturday. He told The News & Observer that he was determined to play for his teammates. But at the time, he declined to say what injuries he sustained from the accident.
It is unclear whether he will be available for the Tar Heels’ game against Miami on Saturday.
Making sense of the numbers
4 The number of 3-pointers Virginia Tech made in the first half. The Hokies rely heavily on the 3-point shot. Nearly 50 percent of their shots are 3-pointers. But they struggled in the first half, going 4 of 15 from behind the 3-point line.
33 After shooting 51.6 percent from the floor in the first half, the Tar Heels made only a third of their shots in the second half.
6 The number of free throws the Tar Heels missed in the second half. Had they made some of those, it could have been the difference in the game going into overtime.
This story was originally published January 22, 2020 at 10:38 PM.
