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Virginia Tech basketball: Hokies fall short against North Carolina

By Kayleigh Toney

Mar 11, 2021; Greensboro, North Carolina, USA; Virginia Tech Hokies guard Tyrece Radford (23) drives to the basket ahead of North Carolina Tar Heels guard Leaky Black (1) during the first half in the quarterfinal round of the 2021 ACC tournament at Greensboro Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Nell Redmond-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 11, 2021; Greensboro, North Carolina, USA; Virginia Tech Hokies guard Tyrece Radford (23) drives to the basket ahead of North Carolina Tar Heels guard Leaky Black (1) during the first half in the quarterfinal round of the 2021 ACC tournament at Greensboro Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Nell Redmond-USA TODAY Sports /
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Virginia Tech basketball fell to North Carolina 81-73 in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament on Thursday.

It wasn’t the trip to the ACC tournament that Hokies wished for but there were some positives to take from the performance heading into the NCAA Tournament.

The Hokies came out fast and had a great first half of play on both sides of the ball for the most part. At the break Virginia Tech had a 35-32 lead and seemed to have much of the momentum.

The game stayed pretty neck and neck at the beginning of the half until North Carolina went on a 10-2 run. A block by Keve Aluma was called as a foul and that’s when we really felt the momentum tip in UNC’s favor and Tech couldn’t get the deficit down after that.

It was the second half when we really saw the depth of North Carolina wear our team down. UNC had the advantage in size and the depth it proved to be too much for a team who hadn’t played in almost two weeks.

Aluma had a fairly quiet evening on the offensive side of the ball. He did have a quiet nine points but for much of the game it was hard to get him going.

Justyn Mutts put the team on his back and had probably his best performance of the season. He made 10 out of 16 field goals and three out of five three pointers for 24 points on the night. The 24 points was the most he’s put up this season. He also had an assist, block, and a steal.

Watching the bench throughout the game was honestly one of the highlights. The energy that they brought was next level and we’ll get that same energy in the big dance as well.

If this game taught us anything it’s that this Virginia Tech team is going to be a tough matchup for anyone in the NCAA tournament. They’ll give each game their all until the final whistle and at the end of the day that’s really all we as fans can ask for.

Next up, the big dance

The Virginia Tech basketball team will get into the NCAA Tournament, that’s no question. What’s up in the air is the seeding that the Hokies will land at. It’s looking likely that it will either be an 8/9 seed which would be far from a cake walk.

The seed projections have dropped a bit since the COVID breaks happened. Only playing two games in about a month was a little harmful to the seeding possibilities.

I feel pretty good about the way this team played and I’m excited to see what they can do in the tournament.

We sit and wait till Selection Sunday to find out where the team lands.