Chapel Hill, N.C. - Virginia Tech’s 2025-26 campaign could be described as a season of what-ifs. At times, it’s shot itself in the foot with blown leads in the waning minutes of conference games. Other times, like Saturday, it has let potentially resume-defining wins slip away in deflating fashion. Barring an upset in Charlottesville or a miraculous ACC tournament run in Charlotte, this loss may be the final nail in the coffin for the Hokies' NCAA Tournament hopes.
No. 18 North Carolina (23-6, 11-5 ACC) defeated Virginia Tech (18-11, 7-9 ACC) 89-82 in the Dean E. Smith Center behind a spirited second half, spearheaded by interior scoring.
“My only disappointment is our lack of composure, our lack of solid basketball when our back was against the wall,” said Virginia Tech head coach Mike Young.
In a season in which the Hokies typically fall victim to a star guard, Saturday was a bit unique. While Seth Tremble was a noble Robin, North Carolina center Henri Veesaar was the unquestioned Batman, tying his career-high with 26 points to go along with a game-high seven boards. He began the second half a perfect 7-for-7.
With 13:51 remaining in the game, Jaden Schutt knocked down a curling triple - his third long ball on six attempts - to tie the game at 57. The following play, Jonathan Powell (15 points, 4-for-5 from deep) took the handoff from Veesaar; he turned the corner before lobbing it over Tobi Lawal’s outstretched arms back to Veesaar for the highlight slam,
Schutt misfired from downtown on the other end, leading to a drive-and-kick triple from Kyan Evans to Powell at the top of the key. Seth Tremble then capped off a 7-0 Carolina run with a spinning lefty layup. Suddenly North Carolina (23-6, 11-5) led 64-57 with 12:01 to go.
Every time it appeared as if seemed Virginia Tech (18-11, 7-9) might make a run, the Tar Heels responded with a run of their own. The Hokies strung together several stops within the final 10 minutes. However, they succumbed to an inopportune cold stretch of their own, going just 1-for-7 from the floor between the 10:04 and 5:00 minute marks of the second half.
Although Carolina’s lead dwindled to as little as five with under three minutes remaining, it put the game out of reach with late-game free throw shooting and moved to 17-0 in the “Dean Dome”, its best start in program history in that building.
While North Carolina’s offense proved effective for all 40 minutes, it was particularly humming in the second half, in which the Tar Heels shot 61% from the floor and reached the charity stripe 20 times.
This was their third consecutive game shooting at least 60% from the field over the course of an entire half - a feat even more impressive considering they are missing their top player in Caleb Wilson.
“We had a couple of their bigs in foul trouble,” explained North Carolina head coach Hubert Davis in regard to North Carolina’s gameplan entering the second half. “We wanted to establish Henri (Veesaar).”
That they did, dumping it inside to Veesaar where he was borderline unstoppable with either his drop step layup or righty hook. When the Hokies doubled, he kicked it out for open looks on the perimeter. When they played him one on one, it was a guaranteed two points - especially against Hansberry, who had to play timidly on the defensive end as he navigated foul trouble (although he ultimately fouled out in just 19 minutes).
“In the first half, he (Veesaar) was letting Virginia Tech dictate where he was catching the ball, which was too far out,” Davis said. “(In the second half) I felt like he worked extremely hard to catch the ball closer to the basket.”
Virginia Tech stayed in striking distance because its offense was fantastic. It finished with near 50/40/100 shooting splits - a rare sight in a loss - led by Neoklis Avdalas’ continued return to form.
After suffering through a multi-week slump, tanking his shooting percentages, Avdalas spent the last couple weeks barely even looking at the rim. That all changed last Saturday as a reinvigorated Avdalas walked down Wake Forest to the tune of 17 points and eight assists.
This aggressive version of Avdalas made another appearance in Chapel Hill as he paced the Hokies with 19 points and five assists. He was able to get to the hoop with the pick and roll or dribble drive, while also knocking down three Luka Doncic-esquestepback triples.
Lawal joined Avdalas with likely his best offensive display of the season. Lawal scored 16 points on 6-for-7 shooting, including two SportsCenter-type slams: a breakaway windmill and a sky-scraping lob that even earned reactions from the Carolina crowd.
Ben Hammond was busy with 16 points, five assists and three steals; however, his outside shot seemed a bit off in terms of his outside shooting. Hansberry went for an efficient 11 points, but was held back by his aforementioned foul trouble.
After going scoreless in two of his last three outings, Schutt got back on track with nine points. Virginia Tech did a much better job looking for its shooter and running plays specifically designed to get him shots.
Virginia Tech forward, Tyler Johnson, made his 2025-26 ACC debut after missing every game since suffering a lower-body injury on December 20 against Elon. He only saw two minutes, but will continue to expand his role as he recovers.
The Hokies, now sitting comfortably outside of the projected field (albeit still in the bubble) officially have no room for error. Step one of its quest to go dancing comes at 9 p.m. on Tuesday, March 3 as the Hokies host Boston College (9-19, 3-13 ACC) in their home finale. Young, who is just 1-6 against the Eagles during his Virginia Tech tenure, hopes to shake off those demons in a few days.
“We need to win Tuesday,” Young said. “Let’s beat Boston College.”
