We've Seen This Before: UNC 64, Hokies 61

With 6:23 to go in the first half, Malcolm Delaney canned his fifth three-pointer of the first half and the Hokies were looking good up 31-15 at North Carolina. From there, the offense went dormant and Tech scored just 30 points the rest of the way in a 64-61 heartbreaker to the Tar Heels (12-4, 2-0) Thursday night, ending the Elite Eight's six-game winning streak.

The Hokies (10-5, 1-2) came out on fire, quieting the 21,000+ at the Dean Dome with a 12-0 run after an early UNC basket. Tech would hit 10 of its first 16 shots, opening up the 16-point lead with Delaney's three-pointer. The Hokies were great defensively once again, creating 12 first half Carolina turnovers. But the shots stopped falling, the stingy defense weakened, and UNC went on a 9-0 run at the end of the first half to close the lead to seven and you could see it coming.

After Tech extended the lead to 40-31 with 15:29 remaining, the Heels went on a 12-2 run, punctuated by two ferocious dunks by John Henson to give Carolina the lead at 43-42. The Hokies didn't fold, however, battling foul trouble and injuries. At one point, Erick Green and Manny Atkins were on the bench with cramps and Terrell Bell had 4 fouls, leaving Tech with just five players they could honestly use. Both Atkins and Green ended up coming back in and it was Atkins three-pointer with five minutes remaining that gave Tech a five-point lead at 52-47.

After a Kendall Marshall three-pointer made it a two-point game, the preseason All-American Harrison Barnes appeared out of nowhere, going on a personal 5-0 run to give Carolina the lead back. The biggest point of the game came with Tech down 57-56, when Jeff Allen appeared to have given Tech the lead with a massive dunk, but was called for a charge. Replays showed that Tyler Zeller, who took the charge for Carolina, was well underneath the basket (see: blown call). Meanwhile, Barnes reappeared on the next possession and nailed a trey to put UNC up 4.

Delaney gave Tech hope with a three-pointer to make it 62-61 and Zeller missed a shot to give the Hokies the ball with 25 seconds remaining. Unfortunately, Seth Greenberg had used all five of his timeouts and Tech had to settle for a Delaney three-pointer that rimmed out with three seconds remaining. An Erick Green turnover on the inbounds after two made free throws sealed the deal for the Tech collapse.

Now, there's plenty to be mad about, such as Jeff Allen scoring just four points after picking up two fouls in the first six minutes of the contest. Or that Tech made just 11-of-37 shots after starting off 10-for-16. Or the blatant missed call on Allen that went a long way in determining the outcome of the game.

However, the Hokies put up eight scholarship players, two who missed time with cramps, against 10 McDonald's All-Americans and came up just short...again. People can blame Delaney's poor shot selection on the last possession, but without him Tech would've been blown out. The senior guard finished with 28 points on 8-of-18 shooting, including 7-of-12 from beyond the arc. As a team, the Hokies made a season-high 11 three-pointers.

The difference down the stretch was that Tech could not control Carolina's bigs. The combination of Zeller, Barnes, and Henson outscored Allen, Bell, and Victor Davila 45-8. Tech shot just 10-of-40 from inside the arc. You're not going to win many ACC games doing that.

As great as this win COULD have been (UNC was No. 24 in the RPI), the Hokies have to refocus for Wake Forest in Blacksburg on Saturday at 8pm. Sure, the Deacs are the worst team in the league, but Tech has to come out firing on all cylinders to prove that they have put this heartbreaker behind them.