BLACKSBURG, VA. — If the North Carolina Tar Heels had driven to Blacksburg, Va., to face Virginia Tech, they may have felt a little like they were in a friendly area when they saw the overpass marked Franklin Street.

Cassell Coliseum was an entirely different story, as UNC made just two field goals in the final 7:37 of the Hokies' 74-70 win Thursday night to lose for the fifth time in the past six games.

Malcolm Delaney led Virginia Tech (17-4, 4-3 ACC) with 21 points including a pair of 3-pointers midway through the second half.

"That was a heck of a basketball game, I thought, by two teams that played awfully hard," UNC coach Roy Williams said. "It's not really a heck of a basketball game unless your team wins, and we didn't win.

"We competed harder than we've been doing. I've never had a team that I worried about how hard we were playing, ... but we played with much more intensity tonight."

Delaney scored 10 of the Hokies' first 21 points in the second half as they built a 54-47 lead at the 12:18 mark. But 11 seconds later, Delaney picked up his fourth foul and went to the bench. He returned with 7:01 remaining after a media timeout.

"Malcolm was a load in the second half," Williams said. "He hit big 3s with ease that hurt us."

After that, UNC made seven consecutive free throws -- two by Will Graves, four straight by Ed Davis and one by Deon Thompson -- after shooting 52.9 percent in the first half (9-of-17) to cut the margin to 66-64 with 3:38 remaining.

Trailing by three with 2:12 left, UNC turned the ball over when the ball went out of bounds off Davis. John Henson, who had a career-high 14 points, was called for goaltending on the other end as the Hokies spread the lead to 69-64 with 1:50 left.

Davis hit 1 of 2 from the line, then Larry Drew II stole the ball and drove in for a layup to cut the margin to two with 1:09. But that would be the Tar Heels' only field goal during the drought until Drew's long 3-pointer at the buzzer.

That's not to say they didn't have opportunities. Marcus Ginyard had a 3-point attempt blocked with 31.1 seconds left, and Will Graves had another attempt from behind the arc that rattled in and out of the basket with 18.8 seconds remaining and the Tar Heels (13-9, 2-5) trailing 71-67.

"It would have been fun with Will's 3-point shot had stayed in," Williams said. "When things are going tough, they usually spin out like that."

Graves, who left the game with an ankle injury before returning, for his late 3-point attempt, agreed that the Tar Heels showed improvement after a sluggish start.

"[We're] tired of losing," Graves said as his ankle was wrapped in ice after the game. "We've got one step [toward improvement], competitiveness -- next step will be winning."

UNC struggled out of the gate, leaving Dorenzo Hudson free for a 3-pointer just 10 seconds into the game. Hudson finished with 17 points, 12 in the first half.

After a pair of turnovers by the Tar Heels, Jeff Allen muscled his way inside to follow his own miss for a 5-0 lead by the Hokies.

Davis made 1 of 2 free throws -- setting the tone for the Tar Heels in the first half -- to get UNC on the board with 18:10 remaining, but Hudson responded with another 3-pointer for an 8-1 Virginia Tech lead.

The Tar Heels' first field goal came on an emphatic dunk by Davis at the 17:13 mark, the Hokies continued to pull away.

Ginyard, who came off the bench, left the game with 14:17 left in the first half after stepping on a Virginia Tech player and injuring his right ankle. He was examined on the bench, then returned to the game with 13:39 left.

Ginyard's made 1 of 2 from the free-throw line to stem a run that had the Hokies leading 18-6.

A 15-footer by Allen gave Virginia Tech a 22-10 lead, but that's when the tide shifted.

David Wear, who also had a career high with 12 points, hit a jumper from just inside the arc, then added a 3-pointer with 10:03 left to pull UNC to within 22-15.

From there, the Tar Heels went on a 14-2 run capped by a pair of free throws by Henson to tie the score at 24-24 with 7:20 left in the half.

Davis made 1 of 2 free throws at the 5:32 mark to give UNC its first lead at 27-26.

With Virginia Tech leading 33-31, David Wear put in a follow shot to tie the score for the fourth time in the half.

UNC got the ball back on a turnover with 6.9 seconds left, and Larry Drew II drove the length of the floor and lofted in a floater for a 35-31 lead for the Tar Heels.