Virginia Tech guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker picked up his second foul at the 10:48 mark of the first half last night in the Hokies’ game at North Carolina.
Tech led at the time, 22-13, shooting 8-of-13 from the floor, including a torrid 6-of-9 from three-point range.
Nineteen seconds later, Hokies point guard Justin Robinson was assessed with his second foul.
Robinson’s third foul would come 37 seconds later. The Hokies were still up, 22-18, but, the writing was on the wall.
UNC outscored Tech 27-9 over the final 9:52. Tech shot 3-of-11 from the field the rest of the way and went into the locker room down 45-31.
Alexander-Walker had briefly checked in at the 2:03 mark, but had to sit again after being whistled for his third foul 37 seconds later.
Tech’s two stars each had three fouls in the first half. Carolina had three fouls as a team until the 17:12 mark of the second half.
The Heels were up 18 at this stage.
The endgame stats made things look on the up-and-up. UNC finished 15-of-17 from the line for the game; Tech finished 15-of-16.
Tech had 18 fouls; UNC 13.
Robinson ended up getting 29 minutes and scored 17 points, and an unofficial plus/minus of -3.
Alexander-Walker had 19 points in 30 minutes, shot 7-of-14 from the floor, 5-of-10 from three.
His unofficial plus/minus: +11.
In a game Virginia Tech lost by 21.
Column by Chris Graham
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