Tech's let another halftime lead on a top 10 team slip away against UNC

BLACKSBURG – The Virginia Tech men’s basketball team has led at halftime against two national championship contenders this season.

It couldn’t finish the job Thursday night against No. 8 North Carolina, just as it couldn’t against No. 1 Syracuse on Nov. 23.

The Hokies (11-7, 0-4 ACC) were unable to duplicate their first-half success and lost to the Tar Heels in convincing fashion, 82-68, in front of the first sellout crowd of the season at Cassell Coliseum.

Tech led 39-34 at halftime and was ahead 44-36 early in the second half before UNC broke away.

"We were with them first half but we’ve got to learn to play two halves. That’s the problem right now is just not putting the two halves together," said Tech junior point guard Erick Green, who had a team-high 17 points, five assists and three steals despite playing on a sore left knee.

The Hokies fell to 0-4 in ACC play with a game at No. 15 Virginia coming up Sunday. They are in the midst of their first four-game losing streak since the 2005-06 season.

Tech’s shots didn’t fall in the second half like they did in the first. A lot of that had to do with the size and athleticism of UNC’s players, but coach Seth Greenberg said he also wasn’t pleased with his team’s second-half shot selection.

The Hokies shot 33.3 percent in the second half after making 40 percent of their attempts in the first.

Meanwhile, UNC shot 51.7 percent in the second half and had much more success hitting the boards. Tech hung with Carolina for rebounds in the first half, but it was out-rebounded 28-9 and had only three defensive boards after the break.

"We did what we wanted to do in the second half. We just didn’t do it with enough conviction," Greenberg said.

UNC went on a 26-2 run early in the second half, during which Tech missed 14 straight field goals.

"It’s like, ‘Oh man, here they go.’ That’s all you can really say," Green said. "Once they get hot, once they get going, it’s Carolina, man they get going."

The Tar Heels scored some easy buckets in transition and followed the lead of sophomore forward Harrison Barnes, who made all six of his field goal attempts after halftime and scored a game-high and season-high 27 points.

Barnes, who was held to only six points on 2 of 8 shooting in the first half, had the most points by a Tech opposing player since Duke’s Nolan Smith had 27 in the ACC Tournament last year.

"Barnes made some ridiculous shots. The guy makes hard shots look easy. … He made one fade, he’ll be getting paid $3 million a year for that shot next year," Greenberg said.

Tech senior guard Dorenzo Hudson, who had a stellar first half with 16 points on 5 of 5 shooting, was held scoreless after the break.

Hudson, who came off the bench for the first time all season, scored every point for the Hokies during an 11-2 run midway through the first half. He made three 3-pointers and two free throws during the run. His 3 with 10:20 left gave the Hokies their first lead of the game, 20-17.

"I thought he could come off the bench and get a feel for it and be the Energizer bunny that we were kind of missing," Greenberg said. "Obviously, he made his first five shots, so I looked brilliant for a while there."

Tech took an eight-point lead on Green’s 3-pointer 1:15 into the second half. North Carolina answered with its game-turning run. The Hokies couldn’t minimize the damage as Barnes and his teammates made bucket after bucket and kept Tech off the scoreboard.

"In the second half, obviously we stopped getting back on defense like we should have and they were able to capitalize in transition," Tech sophomore forward Jarell Eddie said.

North Carolina’s length took over and limited Tech’s offensive opportunities, particularly inside the 3-point arc.

Forwards John Henson, who is 6-foot-11, and 7-foot Tyler Zeller both had significant impacts in the second half, Henson with his blocked shots and rebounds and Zeller with his rebounds and putback buckets.

Henson finished with 16 points and 16 rebounds. Zeller had 14 points and 11 rebounds.