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Off the cuff: Leslie McDonald has been playing so well as of late and was certainly the catalyst in the victory over Duke. But he just wasn't good against Virginia Tech. Perhaps he doesn't do well in deliberate games, not sure.

GoHeels.com's Adam Lucas put it this way. "That was not a vintage Leslie McDonald performance. The senior, who had been so good recently, was stymied by the Virginia Tech zone, and seemed content to try to shoot over it rather than use the penetration he had utilized so effectively recently. Nine of McDonald's 11 shot attempts were three-pointers. McDonald also went 1-for-4 from the free throw line in the final minute, but the one he made was a big one, as it provided a four-point margin and prevented the Hokies from potentially tying the game on a final three-pointer."

Tar Heels 60, Virginia Tech 56
UNC grinds out 11th straight

North Carolina scrapped out a 60-56 win against a deliberate Virginia Tech team to give the Tar Heels their 11th straight victory. (3/1)

The Tar Heels held the lead most of the way and while the game result rarely seemed in danger, they couldn't pull away either. Poor foul shooting ensured that.

Carolina missed seven second-half free throws including five in the last minute and a half as Virginia Tech made it iffy at the end. Leslie McDonald hit the second of two free throws with 4.8 seconds left to wrap up the win.

"I screamed at Leslie for him to hit the free throw," UNC coach Roy Williams said. "That was very intelligent."

But he was frustrated that the Virginia Tech zone defense bothered his club throughout and his players couldn't seem to hit free throws down the stretch.

"It was a workmanlike effort for us," Williams said, praising James Michael McAdoo's second half effort.

McAdoo scored 12 of his 15 points in the second half including eight during a four minute stretch late.

A power dunk by McAdoo with 6:56 left put the Heels up by nine, their largest lead of the game, at 49-40.

As the Hokies kept hitting free throws (15 in the second half), the Tar Heels struggled setting up the nervous ending.

"We've gotta play better; we've gotta get better," Williams said. "To have a great year you have to win a lot of games ugly."

McAdoo led the Tar Heels with 15 points while McDonald added 14 and JP Tokoto chipped in 12.

UNC's 11th straight victory moves the Heels to 22-7 and 12-4 in the ACC while Virginia Tech fell to 9-19 and 2-14 in the league.

The Tar Heels host Notre Dame Monday night.

Boxscore

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