In a matchup between a pair of teams ranked inside the top-15 on Monday night at the Dean Dome, UNC freshman point guard Coby White refused to let his team go down—spearheading a 20-0 run that ultimately led the 11th-ranked Tar Heels to a commanding 103-82 victory over the No. 10 Virginia Tech Hokies.
White ended the night with a team-high 27 points for UNC (15-4, 5-1 ACC), including a trio of three-pointers during the game-changing run and five overall. He also led the team with seven rebounds and six assists.
With the Tar Heels down by four with five minutes left in the first half, the Goldsboro native led the way as UNC quickly turned that slight deficit into a 16-point lead in what seemed like no time at all.
Coby White scored nine of his game-high 27 points during the Tar Heels’ 20-0 run late in the first half. (Todd Melet)
Prior to that critical momentum swing—which energized the home crowd in a big way—it was Virginia Tech (15-3, 4-2 ACC) that threatened to turn the game into a blowout.
The Hokies led by as many as nine points early in the game, while converting on six of their first seven attempts from three-point range. UNC, on the other hand, made just one of its first 12 threes and appeared completely out of sync on offense.
Virginia Tech then suffered a major setback when star guard Justin Robinson was sent to the bench in the first half with three fouls after committing a charge on UNC’s Brandon Robinson, a major factor in the 20-0 Tar Heel run.
From there, White’s explosion completely changed the course of the game–and the rest of the Tar Heels were able to follow suit, take that momentum and channel it into their own play.
“I feel like if any one of us make any of those plays, it’ll snowball down,” White told reporters after the game. “I think we get more excited when we make a defensive play.
“I think we got a lot of excitement when B-Rob took that charge and got Justin Robinson’s third foul,” he added. “That started it all for me.”
After the slow start from long distance, UNC closed the night by hitting on 15 of its final 22 three-point attempts. The final tally of 16 represented the most made threes by the Tar Heels in a single game this season.
Not only that, UNC also found a way to shut down the Hokie offense by limiting those kinds of looks on the other end. Head coach Buzz Williams’ squad converted on just seven of its final 20 tries from beyond the arc, all while struggling to create good opportunities in the paint.
Freshman wing Nassir Little scored a career-high 23 points off the bench in UNC’s blowout victory over No. 10 Virginia Tech. (Todd Melet)
As a result, the lead grew up to as many as 27 points in the second half and turned the closing portion of the game into simply a formality for head coach Roy Williams and his club.
“I do like it when the ball goes in the basket,” Williams said afterwards. “And I liked probably all except two or three shots in the first half.
“But if you’re a shooter and you’re gonna shoot threes, you know what you’re supposed to do?” the coach added. “Make some of ‘em. If you start 1-for-12, you’re gonna lose for everybody.”
Although it was White’s performance that contributed most heavily to the victory, the Tar Heels had a total of five players score in double figures—including a career-high 23 from freshman wing Nassir Little off the bench, as he continues to blossom into the player he was expected to be coming in to college as a McDonald’s All-American.
Senior forward Luke Maye was just behind White with four three-point makes, scoring 12 of his 14 points in that manner.
Garrison Brooks also added 12 points of his own and Kenny Williams had 10 in an impressive all-around performance that saw the Tar Heels move a half-game ahead of their competition at the top of the ACC standings.
“As long as we keep playing with a lot of intensity–like the way we played tonight after the first 12 minutes, the last eight minutes of the first half—and as long as we keep making shots, then I think the sky’s the limit,” White said.
Up Next:
The Tar Heels will be on the road for each of their next two games, beginning with a trip to Atlanta to face Georgia Tech on Tuesday, Jan. 29. Tip-off for that game is set for 7 p.m.
Game Notes:
- This was the fifth time in 19 games this season that the Tar Heels have scored 100 points or more.
- Each of the UNC players wore bright pink sneakers in the game in order to raise awareness for breast cancer as part of the Coaches vs. Cancer initiative.
- The Tar Heels forced Virginia Tech into 12 turnovers in the first half alone, the most they’ve created in a half since ACC play began.
- UNC’s best shooting night of the season before this one came back on Dec. 15 in a win over then-No. 4 Gonzaga, a night the Tar Heels made 13 of their 25 shots from distance.
Cover photo via Todd Melet
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