Photos by JUSTIN COOK The Roanoke Times

Virginia Tech's Erick Green collides with North Carolina's Larry Drew II on a shot attempt during Thursday's game at Cassell Coliseum in Blacksburg. The Hokies defeated the Tar Heels, 74-70.

Virginia Tech's Jeff Allen shoots over North Carolina's Ed Davis during the Hokies' 74-70 victory on Thursday.

North Carolina coach Roy Williams directs his team during Thursday's game. The Tar Heels have lost five of six games.

BLACKSBURG -- Malcolm Delaney, Jeff Allen, Dorenzo Hudson and the rest of Virginia Tech's core of five juniors finally have a win over North Carolina on their resume.

The jubilant Hokies snapped a five-game losing streak in their series with the Tar Heels, beating the defending NCAA men's basketball champions 74-70 on Thursday at Cassell Coliseum.

"It means a lot, and it feels good," Allen, who had 14 points and seven rebounds, said with a grin. "It feels good."

Allen, Hudson and Delaney slapped hands with each other as teammate Terrell Bell went to the free-throw line with 4.6 seconds to go and the Hokies (17-4, 4-3 ACC) up by five points. Allen and Hudson waved their arms to encourage the fans in the nearly full house to scream even louder with delight.

Tech coach Seth Greenberg hugged his eldest two daughters at game's end.

Senior backup Lewis Witcher had been the only current Tech player who knew what it was like to beat UNC. He was a freshman on the 2006-07 team that swept the regular-season series with UNC en route to making the NCAA tournament. UNC had beaten Tech 18 straight times prior to that sweep.

Delaney, who scored 21 points Thursday, and the other four juniors had been 0-5 against UNC, including a 78-64 loss in Chapel Hill last month. The losing streak included two narrow losses in the ACC Tournament that ended Tech's NCAA tournament hopes the past two years.

UNC (13-9, 2-5), which lost four starters from last year's NCAA championship team, lost for the fifth time in six games.

But the fact that Tyler Hansbrough, Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington and Danny Green no longer play for UNC didn't take away any of the joy in the win for Allen.

"I don't care," Allen said with a smile. "I don't care. They're still North Carolina."

Hudson had 17 points for Tech, which won despite shooting 38.8 percent from the field.

Tech grabbed the lead for good at 44-43 on a Delaney jumper with 14:54 to go.

Delaney made back-to-back 3-pointers to extend Tech's lead to 54-47 with 12:18 remaining.

Delaney picked up his fourth foul with 12:04 to go and went to the bench. But the Hokies maintained the lead without him. He returned with 7:01 to go and Tech up 63-59.

With Tech clinging to a 66-64 lead, Allen was fouled by Deon Thompson with 2:43 to go. Allen made one of two free throws.

After a UNC turnover, Allen scored to extend the lead to 69-64. Ed Davis made one of two free throws to cut the lead to 69-65 with 1:26 to go. After a Tech turnover, Larry Drew II made a layup with 1:09 left.

Delaney made two free throws with 36.6 seconds left to extend the lead to 71-67.

After a 3-pointer by UNC's Will Graves rattled around the rim and went out, Allen made one of two free throws with 17.9 seconds to go.

Davis finished with 15 points and seven rebounds.

UNC's John Henson, a 6-foot-10, 195-pound freshman forward, had a career-high 14 points off the bench. He entered the game averaging just 3 points.

UNC's David Wear, a 6-10, 225-pound freshman forward, had a career-high 12 points off the bench. He entered the game averaging just 2.5 points.

NORTH CAROLINA (13-9)

Strickland 0-2 1-2 1, Drew II 3-7 2-2 9, Graves 1-7 2-2 4, Thompson 3-7 2-5 8, Davis 4-7 7-11 15, Ginyard 2-7 1-2 6, McDonald 0-0 0-0 0, Henson 5-6 4-4 14, D.Wear 5-7 0-0 12, T.Wear 0-3 1-2 1. Totals 23-53 20-30 70.

VIRGINIA TECH (17-4)

Hudson 6-13 3-3 17, Delaney 6-17 7-7 21, Allen 4-14 6-9 14, Bell 2-6 2-3 6, Davila 3-4 0-0 6, Raines 1-1 0-0 2, Green 0-5 0-0 0, Witcher 0-1 0-0 0, Atkins 0-0 0-0 0, Thompson 4-6 0-0 8. Totals 26-67 18-22 74.

Halftime--North Carolina 35-33. 3-Point Goals--North Carolina 4-15 (D.Wear 2-3, Drew II 1-3, Ginyard 1-4, Henson 0-1, Graves 0-4), Virginia Tech 4-19 (Hudson 2-5, Delaney 2-9, Allen 0-1, Bell 0-1, Green 0-3). Fouled Out--Thompson. Rebounds--North Carolina 40 (Davis, Strickland 7), Virginia Tech 36 (Bell 11). Assists--North Carolina 12 (Drew II 6), Virginia Tech 16 (Delaney 5). Total Fouls--North Carolina 19, Virginia Tech 24. A--9,847.