Published: January 11, 2006 12:44 am      

Tar Heels stick Hokies

BLACKSBURG, Va. — It had been 40 years since Virginia Tech had beaten North Carolina on the hardwood. Perhaps their best opportunity to stop that streak came on Tuesday night. It didn’t happen.

Playing with a roster of virtual unknowns, including three freshmen that started and four walk-ons, the 20th-ranked Tar Heels used rebounding and free throws in the game’s final seconds to squeak past the Hokies for a 64-61 Atlantic Coast Conference win in front of nearly 9,900 fans at Cassell Coliseum.

Virginia Tech (10-6, 0-3), which has lost six games by a combined 22 points, finds itself on the bottom of the ACC with an 0-3 record, and a home game with Virginia slated for Sunday. Virginia Tech last defeated North Carolina in 1966, and saw its losing streak to the ‘Heels extended to 17 games.

“I really don’t care if we’re 0-3,” said Virginia Tech head coach Seth Greenberg, whose Hokies have lost to Duke and North Carolina by a total of four points. “We’ve got 16 league games, we’ve got a chance to win eight, nine, 10 ... shoot, we’ve got a chance to win 13.

“We can play with Duke and North Carolina right down to the last possession. We can win the next 13, we can lose the next 13. I can guarantee you one thing, we’re going to be in the next 13.”

While North Carolina (10-2, 2-0) lost four NBA first round draft picks off last year’s national championship team, the Tar Heels proved still to be formidable opponent. Freshman Tyler Hansbrough led the Tar Heels with 20 points and nine rebounds, including a key offensive board and two free throws in the final seconds that helped preserve the win.

“They’re still tough,” said Virginia Tech sophomore Deron Washington, who had 11 points, one of four Hokies to finish in double figures. “They’ve got a bunch of good players, a good coach and everybody knows their roles on the team so they’re always going to be a tough team to beat,”

Rebounding and free throws proved to be the Hokies’ downfall. North Carolina led 39-26 on the boards, and Virginia Tech made just 10-of-19 charity tosses, including just 1-of-4 late in the second half. The Tar Heels hit just 13-20 from the free throw line, but connected on 6-of-8 down the stretch.

“I appreciate our effort, but it’s all little things,” Greenberg said. “We didn’t get the stop at the end of the half, making a free throw, getting a rebound off a missed free throw. It’s not any big thing, but we’ve got to get tougher. We’ve got to get hungrier and tougher, it’s plain and simple.”

Virginia Tech, which forced 25 Tar Heel turnovers, overcame a 34-30 halftime deficit to take a 46-41 lead at the 13:01 mark of the second half on a driving layup and ensuing free throw from Jamon Gordon. North Carolina responded, with a pair of 3s from Wes Miller and a pair of short jumpers by Hansbrough that highlighted a 10-2 lead that gave the Tarheels the lead for good.

“It was a fantastic night. It’s weird how you can look at the stat sheet and win with 20 turnovers,” North Carolina head coach Roy Williams said. “But, I loved our guys’ poise after the first four minutes of the second half.

“The first four minutes of the second half were about as miserable as it can possibly be. When we didn’t turn it over, we made some shots. It’s a heck of a basketball game. You just want to win and get out of town as fast as you can in this league.”

Virginia Tech continued to stay close, cutting the margin to one three times, but Reyshawn Terry hit seven straight points to keep the Tarheels in the lead. The Hokies were within 61-59 with 49:4 seconds left in the game and had a chance to get closer when a Miller 3 missed, but Terry grabbed the rebound.

Terry was fouled and missed the shot, but Hansbrough grabbed the carom and was fouled. Hansbrough, one of most highly-recruited freshmen in the country, hit both, finishing the game hitting 6-of-8 from the field and 8-of-9 from the charity stripe. David Noel added 10 points for the Tar Heels.

Wynton Witherspoon, who led the Hokies with 17 points, hit a driving layup to cut it to 63-61 with 9:3 seconds left in the game. After Marcus Gilyard hit 1-of-2 from the free throw line, Virginia Tech had one more shot, but Washington’s 3-pointer from the right baseline clanked off the front of the rim as the buzzer sounded.

“I thought it was going in at one time,” Washington said. “It looked good, I got it off in time. I thought it was going in. It hit the rim and bounced out.”

Virginia Tech, which led 19-9 early before a 15-1 run enabled the Tarheels to take a 34-30 lead the break, realized they may let one slip away.

“t definitely came down to a couple of possessions,” said Tech’s Zabian Dowdell, who scored 13 points for the Hokies. “They’re a good team and they played hard.

“You just have to capitalize on the opportunities when you get them and we didn’t do that tonight. We still had a chance to win the game and we didn’t do it.”

— Contact Brian Woodson

bwoodson@bdtonline.com