Virginia Tech pulls away from No. 10 North Carolina

BLACKSBURG, VA. » Justin Robinson scored 19 points and Virginia Tech pulled away in the second half to beat No. 10 North Carolina 80-69 Monday night.

Ahmed Hill added 18 points for Virginia Tech (14-6, 3-4 Atlantic Coast Conference). Hill scored seven in a row to start the decisive 13-3 burst, which turned a 51-48 lead into a 64-51 advantage with just under eight minutes remaining. Kerry Blackshear Jr. added 16 points.

Joel Berry and Luke Maye scored 23 points each for the Tar Heels (16-5, 5-3). North Carolina never got closer than eight points in the final eight minutes.

The Hokies ended the first half on a 15-2 run to lead 39-32 at the break. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Berry sparked the Tar Heels early in the second half, but then Hill’s 3-pointer started his personal 7-0 run.

As the final horn sounded, fans that had been chanting “just like football” streamed onto the court. NO. 13 OHIO STATE 64, NEBRASKA 59 » Keita BatesDiop scored 14 of his 20 points in the second half and Ohio State beat Nebraska, the fourth victory for the surging Buckeyes in the last eight days.

The back-and-forth game had seven lead changes in the second half. A pair of foul shots by Nebraska’s James Palmer Jr. cut Ohio State’s lead to four with 2:19 remaining, but the Cornhuskers couldn’t pull any closer.

Jae’Sean Tate put the Buckeyes (18-4, 9-0 Big Ten) up by six with a layup with 1:02 left, and a pair of foul shots by Kaleb Wesson stretched it to eight. Palmer hit a 3-pointer with 12 seconds left, but Nebraska ran out of time.

Palmer had a careerhigh 34 points. Nebraska (14-8, 5-4) was fresh off a 20-point upset of then-No. 23 Michigan Thursday.

Ohio State surpassed its win total for all of last season. Earlier in the day, it moved from No. 22 to No. 13 in the AP Top 25, its highest position since 2014.