No shame in losing to the No. 2 team in the country. North Carolina is strong and primed for a run in the NCAA tournament.

The Hokies played valiantly down the stretch, like they did Saturday against No. 7 Duke, but they were off just a little bit defensively, and the Tar Heels made them pay.

Tech coach Seth Greenberg talked of his team’s defensive shortcomings afterwards, saying …

“I thought we did a lot of good things. I just don’t think we ever got outside ourselves. I think to beat the No. 2 team in the country, you’ve got to get outside of yourself. You’ve got to find something in the pit of your stomach that just makes losing not an option. We got close to that point, but we never got to that point. Before the game, I talked to the guys about traits I think we needed to win the game: Being relentless and determined and persistent and tough and poised, and at times we possessed every one of those traits, we just didn’t possess those traits for long enough periods of time and at key times.”

The Hokies players think winning Sunday at No. 24 Florida State and a solid, read: un-disastrous, showing in the ACC tournament would get them in. That sounds about right. A win at FSU would give the Hokies three top 25 wins, and if Miami and BC, both of whom lost to the Hokies this season, can pull out of their recent funks and stay in the RPI top 50, that would give Tech a pretty good resume. Then again, that’s for somebody else to decide.

As for next week’s ACC tournament, which begins Thursday at Atlanta’s Georgia Dome, the Hokies are a lock for the seventh seed or lower. Looks like they’ll probably be a seven, eight or nine, which would keep them out of the 9:30 game Thursday. That’s great news for us reporters. It’s brutal covering that night game at the ACC tournament.

A couple of end game tidbits …
**Tech forward Jeff Allen now has eight double-doubles this season and 18 for his career. The sophomore is now two rebounds shy of 500 for his career.
**Hokies wing A.D. Vassallo passed Ace Custis for eighth place on Tech’s all-time scoring list (1,723 points). Custis is one of four former Hokies players to have his jersey retired, along with Bimbo Coles, Dell Curry and Allan Bristow.
**The Hokies were 17 for 17 from the free throw line Wednesday, their first perfect game from the line in more than two seasons.
**Tech point guard Malcolm Delaney, who is battling through hip and wrist injuries, was 4 for 16 from the floor, but he made all 10 of his free throw attempts and finished with 19 points. He needs 13 more made free throws to pass Coles for Tech’s single-season record.
**Hokies track athlete Queen Harrison, who advanced to the semifinals in the 400-meter hurdles at the Beijing Olympics this past summer, was one of two winners of a Simon Sez competition at halftime.