UNC Basketball: Tar Heels back in win column with victory over Hokies

The UNC basketball program got a much-needed victory over the Virginia Tech Hokies on Monday night.

After back-to-back losses against Miami and Wake Forest, the North Carolina Tar Heels got back in the win column on Monday night with a victory over a Virginia Tech Hokies program that’s lost nine of its last 14 games.

North Carolina was led by sophomore point guard Caleb Love, who scored a game-high 22 to go along with five assists and two rebounds. He hit just 5-of-14 shots for the game but connected on 9-of-11 attempts at the free throw line.

The Tar Heels got double-digit points from all five of their starters, including a pair of 15-point games from R.J. Davis and Brady Manek. Similar to Love, they didn’t shoot the ball well, hitting a combined 8-of-21 shots for the game, but Manek did knock down 4-of-8 from three-point range to go along with eight rebounds, while Davis was able to convert 8-of-9 at the foul line.

Armando Bacot started the night on an absolute tear, hitting his first six shots of the game and scoring a dozen in no time at all. He also had a double-double by halftime. His hot-shooting night quickly ended, as he missed eight consecutive shots and 12 of his final 13, most of them layups. He finished the game on the bench after getting his fifth foul late in the second half. He scored 14 points and pulled down a game-high 19 rebounds.

North Carolina shot poorly as a team, hitting just 23 of their 63 attempts from the floor, though they did connect on 10-of-25 from beyond the arc and 22-of-26 at the charity stripe. They also outrebounded the Hokies by 11 and committed just seven turnovers for the game. The victory moves UNC to 13-6 overall and 5-3 in conference play.

The Hokies shot far better than the Tar Heels, going 27-for-53 for the game, but they hit fewer three-pointers and got to the foul line 15 fewer times. Keve Aluma scored a team-high 19 points for them, while Justyn Mutts gave them 18 points and 10 rebounds despite playing through foul trouble. The loss drops them to 10-9 on the season and 2-6 in the ACC. They’re currently in a tie for second-to-last-place in the conference standings.

The Tar Heels will be home again on Wednesday night when they take on Boston College in the teams’ second meeting of the season. UNC won the first matchup in Chesnut Hill, 91-65.

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