A.D. Vassallo walks off the court disappointed after the loss and elimination from the 2009 ACC Tournament. Related gallery
ATLANTA - Tyler Hansbrough and company played brutal Big Dance bouncers yet again.
On a trip down the court in which the Tar Heels fouled Tech twice, the Hokies did not get the call they hoped for when Hansbrough forced a jump ball that sent possession to Carolina with five ticks left. Two free throws and a missed A.D. Vassallo 3-point attempt later, UNC emerged on top, 79-76.
No. 1 North Carolina (28-3) toppled eight-seeded Virginia Tech (18-14) in the second round of the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament for the second year in a row and very well could've provided the loss that keeps Tech out of the NCAA tournament once more.
"Our theme for the last 24 hours has been 'same story, different ending,'" Tech Coach Seth Greenberg said. "Unfortunately, we got the same story and the same ending."
The Hokies either held a lead or tie for over 12 straight minutes until Hansbrough - who scored his team's final six and notched 28 total - lifted his team ahead on a pair of foul shots at the 1:13 mark.
On the next possession, he pump-faked repeatedly before hitting a layup to make it 77-76 North Carolina with 34 seconds remaining, to answer Vassallo's go-ahead bucket.
The Hokies had a chance to answer, but turned it over on a jump ball with 5.4 seconds remaining. This came after both an errant pass and then a tipped ball that went to J.T. Thompson, who Hansbrough tied up.
The play called for a double ball screen.
"We wanted to put Ed Davis in a ball screen -- we thought he struggled with ball screens all night ... First, we wanted to get A.D. (Vassallo) on a quick flare screen to give him a chance to go 1-on-1, but it just didn't work."
Hansbrough then received the ensuing inbound, was fouled, and hit both free throws.
Vassallo found a decent look while hurrying off a potentially-tying trifecta at the buzzer, but the senior found a painfully familiar Tar Heel rushing toward him for the sake of agitation.
"I saw A.D. kind of cut loose so I left my man and was pretty confident he was going to take the last shot," Hansbrough said. "I stepped out there and I didn't foul him because I thought he was close to shooting."
Vassallo scored 16 of his team-high 26 in the second session, and shot 4-7 of from distance.
The Hokies held the edge in 3-point shooting, with 44.4 percent beyond the arc. However, they were outdone on the boards, as UNC won the rebounding battle by a 44-33 margin.
Tech had no answer for the Tar Heels interior presence down the stretch. "We just weren't tough enough when we needed to be," Greenberg said. "We were battling guys six inches taller than us ... I guess we weren't blocking out well enough because they kept on jumping and getting the rebound."
Malcolm Delaney also finished with a double-double, notching 17 points and dishing out ten assists.
Unlike their meeting in Blacksburg ten days ago in which North Carolina won 86-78, the Hokies weren't victimized by points off turnover or the fast break scoring, actually winning the categories 16-10 and 13-5, respectively.
Leave a comment 0 Comments Write a letter to the editor
All letters to the editor must include a name, e-mail, daytime phone number and affiliation to Virginia Tech. Affiliation includes: year and major for students; position and department for faculty and staff; current city for alumni and parents.