North Carolina, behind a strong second half from guard R.J. Davis and big man Armando Bacot, came from behind to defeat Virginia Tech 81-73 and advance to the ACC Tournament semi-finals. (3/11)

In a back-and-forth game, a Davis three from the right wing midway through the second half gave Carolina its biggest lead to that point, 53-49, and started a 14-5 run as the Tar Heels pulled away.

Within seconds after he hit the triple, Davis pickpocketed Hunter Cattoor and went in for an acrobatic contested layup high off the backboard and drew the foul. The old-fashioned three-point play put the Heels up by seven.

After eight straight points by Bacot the Tar Heels were up by double figures at 66-56 with under six minutes to play.

The Hokies did cut the margin to five with less than two minutes to play but UNC's Leaky Black, who came into the game having missed 18 of his previous 19 three-point shots, popped in an open three from the right corner. After a Bacot steal, Davis ended any chance for Virginia Tech as he got another three from the right wing with just over a minute to go.

Davis, who scored a team-high 19 points off the bench, got at least as much playing time as three of the starters. "We went with the smaller lineup a lot," UNC coach Roy Williams said, adding that he felt the team needed two ball handlers in there. "Their defense was pretty aggressive and we were turning it over."

Virginia Tech got out to an 11-3 lead during the first five minutes and looked like the fresher, more energetic team.

But a more active Tar Heels team later went on an 11-2 run of its own which featured threes by freshmen guards Davis and Caleb Love. Love's swished three, followed by a swished two put the Heels up 21-18.

Carelessness with the ball led to two straight UNC turnovers that helped the Hokies regain the lead at 31-28. Virginia Tech would take a 35-32 lead into the lockerroom buoyed by an 18-12 advantage in the paint - an area the Heels controlled in their first game of the ACC Tournament against Notre Dame. All 18 points were layups or dunks.

"They came out with a sense of urgency that was greater than ours," Coach Williams said. "At half I felt very lucky that we were just down three."

Virginia Tech was holding its own inside in the first half. In fact, Bacot, who ended with 17 points, didn't score until the last two minutes of the first half.

The big guys, who destroyed Notre Dame in the Heels first game of the tourney, didn't start controlling the boards until the second half.

"We keep coming and keep coming and keep coming," Coach Williams said. "Hopefully during the course of a 40-minute game, it'll be big for us."

Virginia Tech, a lock as an NCAA Tournment team with a 15-6 record, was led by Justyn Mutt's season-high 24 points. North Carolina, which improves to 18-9, plays Florida State, a team that hasn't played yet in the ACC Tournament after Duke pulled out with COVID issues, at about 9 p.m. Friday.

Box Score

UNC's Armando Bacot scored 13 of his 17 points in the second half.
(UNC Sports Information photo by Maggie Hobson.)