Tar Heels drop fourth straight in loss to Virginia Tech

BLACKSBURG, VA – The 18th-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels (5-4 overall, 0-1 ACC) can’t keep getting worse, especially for this early in the season.

Once again, they drop their fourth straight contest – this time against the Virginia Tech Hokies (8-1 overall, 1-0 ACC), by the score of 80-72, in front of 8,925 fans at Cassell Coliseum.

Senior Forward Justyn Mutts led the Hokies with 27 points and 11 rebounds, as well as Senior Guard Hunter Cattoor scoring 13 points.

On the fourth consecutive loss, Tar Heels head coach Hubert Davis commented, “We had a hard week, where each of the four losses I get something different.” He added, “One common thing is that we’re falling short. I’m disappointed in the outcome and I’m pleased at the way we fight to the end. We’ve just came out short.”

The Tar Heels, who were the Preseason No. 1 – was without their star Forward, Senior Armando Bacot, who is nursing a bruised shoulder. He was missed, especially when the Hokies exploited his absence where Mutts grabbing 11 rebounds and going 12-for-16 on the floor. This is where the Heels allowed the Hokies to score 42 points from the inside.

The Senior Forward from Millville, NJ reviewed on his performance, “ It’s just my teammates and my coaches putting so much trust in me, just so much faith in me.” He pointed out, “A lot of it is the play calls that are going on, and then within different flows of the game … just with the way our offense runs, there are certain openings that I was able to take that really benefited me.”

Caleb Love, Pete Nance and RJ Davis led the Tar Heels with 18 points apiece. In addition to Nance’s 18 points, he added 10 rebounds.

Coach Davis still has high hopes for his Tar Heels having a successful season by believing, “This is a good basketball team, and I’m convinced that we’re going to be a great basketball team by the end of the season.”

On Saturday, the Tar Heels look to end their losing streak against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets on a 3:15 contest at the Dean Smith Center in Chapel Hill, on a game televised by ESPN. On the other hand, Virginia Tech hosts former Atlantic 10 foe, the Dayton Flyers on Wednesday at Cassell Coliseum on a 8PM game on ACC Network.