BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) — Ven-Allen Lubin collected his first double-double as a Tar Heel and Ian Jackson hit five of North Carolina’s season-high 15 3-pointers while scoring 19 points in a 91-59 victory over Virginia Tech on Tuesday night.
The Tar Heels (20-11, 13-6 ACC) extended their season-high win streak to six as they prepare to end the regular season at home against No. 2 Duke on Saturday. North Carolina won 20 games in a season for the 65th time.
Lubin, whose previous stops were at Notre Dame and Vanderbilt, had 10 points and 11 rebounds. Jackson was 5 of 8 from the arc. Seth Trimble scored 17 points, RJ Davis 15 and Drake Powell 13. Elliot Cadeau had 12 assists.
The Tar Heels made 15 of 28 3-pointers and shot 59% overall.
Jaydon Young and Ben Burnham scored 12 points each for the Hokies (13-17, 8-11), who shot 38%. Virginia Tech’s leading scorer and rebounder, Tobi Lawal, was on the bench with a lower leg injury. He also missed the Hokies’ previous game.
The Hokies led by two when North Carolina went on a 25-6 run over the final seven minutes of the first half, capped when Lubin fed Trimble in the lane for a dunk as time ran out for a 46-29 lead. Davis had nine of his 15 first-half points and Trimble seven of his 12 in that run.
Jackson made consecutive 3-pointers in a 15-0 run that produced a 34-point bulge with 12 minutes remaining.
The Tar Heels now prepare the Blue Devils, who they lost to 87-70 on Feb. 1 at Duke. Virginia Tech travels to play No. 11 Clemson, also Saturday.