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Virginia Tech Weathers Late Surge From #18 North Carolina For 80-72 Victory

Justyn Mutts 1 VT CSU 2022 ES

After missing their opportunity to earn a top 25 spot in Charleston right before Thanksgiving, Virginia Tech seized their second opportunity to likely do so with a dominant first 30 minutes followed by a gritty, tight survival at the end to hold off #18 North Carolina and pick up a big win.

Virginia Tech beat #18 North Carolina to improve to 8-1 on the season with the Tar Heels falling 5-4, becoming the first preseason #1 team to ever lose four-straight games in a season.

UNC not having Armando Bacot certainly helped the Hokies down low, but Tech was dominant in the paint. Tech had 10 offensive rebounds compared to 4 for the Tar Heels with MJ Collins having 5 himself. The Hokies turned that into an 8-4 second chance points advantage while adding a 42-32 points in the paint advantage to cement their dominance around the rim.

Tech also had 16 assists on 31 made shots while the Tar Heels only had 6 assists on 24 made shots with both teams having 10 turnovers. Tech's ball movement was great for the first 30 minutes before UNC's press forced some turnovers and helped bring the Tar Heels back in the game. UNC also got to the line a ton going 21-27 there compared to 11-15 for VT which helped UNC get back in this one especially as they got into the bonus with over 10 minutes to go in the second half.

Tech was also efficient shooting 50.8% from the field and doing this largely inside the arc as they were only 7-19 from three-point range. The fact that Tech is beating quality teams while not firing on all cylinders from three-point range says a lot about how well-rounded this team has become and how they can win in different ways which will be valuable as the season progresses.

Justyn Mutts had arguably his finest performance as a Hokie with 27 points on 12-16 shooting plus 11 rebounds and 4 assists. Though he did have 5 turnovers, Mutts was dominant overall especially in the second half where he seemed to take control of this game himself for large stretches of it on his way to having 21 second half points and pushing Tech's lead to nearly 20 prior to the late surge from the Tar Heels.

Hunter Cattoor had an impressive first half driving the ship in the opening 20 minutes with all 13 of his points while adding 3 rebounds and 1 assist with 0 turnovers. Sean Pedulla didn't have his best or most efficient game, but he found ways to make important, winning plays on his way to having 14 points on 5-14 shooting plus 4 rebounds and 4 assists with only 2 turnovers.

MJ Collins was huge off the bench for the Hokies as he had 8 points plus 8 rebounds including 5 offensive ones. Collins also had a big 3 in the second half to help quell the first UNC run somewhat before making a pair of big free throws inside the final minute to help seal the deal showing maturity beyond his years in the process.

Grant Basile had a solid night with 12 points on 4-9 shooting plus 4 rebounds and 4 assists. Darius Maddox had a rough shooting night with 2 points on 1-6 from the field but found other ways to impact the game with 4 rebounds and 2 assists plus a shared team-high of +10 in the plus/minus, sharing that with Justyn Mutts. Lynn Kidd had 4 points and 1 rebound off the bench while Mylyjael Poteat also added a rebound in limited minutes.

Virginia Tech was dominant for the first 30 or so minutes of this game before UNC put together a surge that unlike their surge against Indiana earlier this week, helped them claw back into a 1-2 possession game late. However, Tech's maturity and talent shined through led by big plays from Justyn Mutts, Sean Pedulla, and MJ Collins to seal the deal.

Now we'll see if this ends up being a Quad 1 win given some of UNC's struggles early on but it still likely will be and is definitely a resume booster that pairs well with their win over Penn State at the top of it for now with many more opportunities looming ahead.

In the meantime, it's time for Virginia Tech to rightfully take their spot in the top 25.

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