Even a victory over a subpar Carolina team is cause for a Tech celebration

BLACKSBURG — Virginia Tech’s men’s basketball players celebrated like they had just knocked off the No. 1 team in the country and not a squad that’s sitting dangerously close to the pit of the ACC standings.

It’s still North Carolina, right?

Before Thursday night, only two of the Hokies players — seniors Lewis Witcher and Paul Debnam — had ever experienced the joy of beating the Tar Heels.

For Tech’s junior class, a group that’s had some big wins during its time in Blacksburg, Thursday’s 74-70 win over UNC at Cassell Coliseum was one to truly cherish.

“We’ve been waiting for this for a long time,” Hokies junior forward Jeff Allen said.

Allen and the rest of the Hokies’ juniors had lost five straight to the Tar Heels, including a couple of heartbreakers in the last two ACC tournaments. Not to bring up bad memories or anything, but remember Tyler Hansbrough’s buzzer beater in 2008 and the infamous held ball call last year in Atlanta?

So, even though North Carolina (13-9, 2-5) has taken a precipitous fall this season, Tech (17-4, 4-3) still treated it’s first win over the Tar Heels since 2007 like a major victory.

“Besides that one time we lost at North Carolina (92-53 in 2008), we’ve been so close every time. Every time I’ve seen them, I’ve been like, ‘We could beat them,’” Hokies junior guard Malcolm Delaney said. “Just for us to get this win and stick with it the whole game, it’s just a happy feeling.”

With four seconds remaining, and the win in hand, Delaney (21 points, five assists, one turnover) looked into the crowd and pumped his fist several times. Junior guard Dorenzo Hudson (17 points) turned to the student section and flapped his arms like a bird.

The Hokies’ win prevented a two-game sweep against the Tar Heels, who won the first meeting between the teams in Chapel Hill on Jan. 10.

Tech was ahead at halftime of that game before UNC went on a shooting tear in the second half. It shot 65.2 percent after the break and made 5 of 9 3-pointers.

Hokies coach Seth Greenberg was worried about a repeat performance in the closing minutes Thursday night. The Tar Heels kept putting up 3s, but they couldn’t get them to fall.

Tech forward Terrell Bell (six points, 11 rebounds, three assists) blocked Marcus Ginyard’s 3-point attempt with 31 seconds left. Shortly thereafter, wing Will Graves misfired on a trey that rolled around the rim and out.

Had it gone in, Tech was looking at a slim 71-70 lead. Instead, Allen (14 points, seven rebounds, four steals) grabbed the rebound and made one of two free throw attempts on the other end to make it 72-67.

“It was nice to play these guys finally and not see the ball go in at the end,” Greenberg said. “When Graves’ ball was spinning around and spinning around, if history was going to repeat itself, it was going to go in.

“But it didn’t and we got a loose ball. I thought we were a determined group tonight. That was the best way to describe it.”

On Carolina’s next possession, Heels guard Larry Drew missed a 3 that bounced off the top of the backboard and into the hands of Bell. Bell was fouled and made both free throws to put the Hokies up 74-67 with four seconds left.

Drew knocked down a 3 from the top of the arc at the buzzer to make it 74-70. It was too little, too late.

The callow Tar Heels, the defending national champions, have a long way to go if they expect to make it to the NCAA tournament, let alone another Final Four.

They certainly have the talent to make a run if they can get things going. Of the players who saw action against the Hokies, six were McDonald’s High School All-Americans and one (Ed Davis) is a projected NBA lottery pick.

“It’s North Carolina, man. They don’t even retire numbers unless you’re the player of the year,” Greenberg said. “This is a team that beat Michigan State. They played Texas right down to the wire. They’ve got eight McDonald’s All-Americans.

“Yeah, it’s a big win. It’s a good program win. It validates a little bit of what we’re doing.”

The Hokies have no McDonald’s All-Americans and no projected lottery picks, but they have a bunch of players experienced in the art of winning close games at home. They improved to 11-0 at Cassell Coliseum this season heading into today’s scheduled home game against Clemson (16-6, 4-4).

Tech’s players and coaches said they weren’t concerned about the quick turnaround, and they don’t expect the icy weather, and a possible low fan turnout, to affect the way they play.

Nothing could top the energy that came from the capacity crowd that came out Thursday night.

“That’s the best crowd we’ve had since I’ve been here, and that helped us out a lot,” Delaney said. “When we start getting momentum, it’s hard to win here. It’s one of the toughest places to play in the country. A lot of people don’t recognize that, but when you see a game like today, they really helped us out.”