Jackets lose 16 straight on road

The men's basketball team extended their losing streak on opponents' home courts to 16 games after losing at Maryland in College Park, 80-65 on Wednesday night and 77-61 at North Carolina in Chapel Hill on Saturday.

The ACC loss drops them to 2-4 in the conference, 0-5 on the road and extends its woeful road-losing streak to 16 games.

The Jackets have dropped five straight to Maryland.

Before the game, Hewitt commented on the ACC and the competition.

"It's very unpredictable. There are some very good teams like Maryland right now. I'm shocked that they are No. 24 [at the time]. I thought coming into the season, and it could still happen, they would be one of the better teams in the league. Just goes to show you how balanced the ACC is.

While Tech shot 29-61 from the field, they only scored on 1-17 from three-point range. The team committed numerous, costly turnovers that led to a large Maryland lead. Averaging nearly 16 turnovers a game on the road this season, Tech committed 19 against Maryland, 13 in the first half. The team also shot poorly from the line, only hitting six of 16.

Freshman Javaris Crittenton had his second straight poor outing, shooting 2-10, the same mark as his last game against North Carolina. He finished with five points. Thaddeus Young also led his team in scoring for the second straight game with 21 points.

Trailing from the very beginning of the game, Tech had three turnovers in its first five possessions and never recovered. The Jackets cut the deficit to 1 early in the first half, but the Terps went on a 30-11 run to take a double-digit lead before the second half. Tech never came closer than 11 the rest of the way.

Last Saturday, Tech lost on the road to No. 4 North Carolina 77-61.

The match-up of the ACC's top two offensive teams saw more defense than offense for most of the night. The Tar Heels shot 47 percent and pulled away in the second with a 25-10 run.

The Jackets' offense was held to its lowest offensive output of the season. They had previously been held to just 64 points in a loss to Vanderbilt, also a road game. North Carolina's physical defense held freshman star Javaris Crittenton to seven points on 2-10 shooting.

"Javaris will learn from the game. It's probably the first time he played like a freshman since the Vanderbilt game," Hewitt said.

Tech's other freshman, Thaddeus Young, led the team in scoring with 22 points.

The Tar Heels led for almost all of the game, scoring 11 of the first 13 points. The Jackets came within four points midway through the first half, but the deficit only grew as the game went on.

"They trap. They were running and jumping, they overplayed the passing lanes. We didn't do a good job of getting open so it was tough for me at the point guard position," Crittenton said.

Sophomore sensation Tyler Hansbrough finished with 24 points, 18 of which came in the second half and 14 of which came from free throws.

Tech's defense targeted Hansbrough all night, trying to stop the Tar Heel from having another potential career game.

In last year's game at Alexander Memorial Coliseum, Hansbrough scored a career high-40 points, which set a new ACC freshmen scoring record.

With the back-to-back ACC and road game losses, Tech extended their road losing streak that stretches back to the 2005 season. They have lost 16 in a row, including five this season. Tech's last road victory was nearly two years ago, where the Jackets defeated the Hurricanes 76-72 at Miami on Feb. 23, 2005.

"Nope, we are just preparing as we always do. ... There is nothing you can do about the games that have been lost and you just have to prepare for the next game. Last year's team is different from this year's team," Hewitt said.

The Jackets, averaging over 80 points a game, averaged just 63 in their two contests with Maryland and North Carolina.

Tech plays all but one game out of conference for the rest of the season. They play Virginia Tech on Sunday at Alexander Memorial Coliseum.

Tipoff time is set for 3:30.