North Carolina, possibly still reeling from revelations of a maskless party, came out listless, getting down 21-4 early and went on to lose to ACC’s top team Virginia 60-48 in Charlottesville. (2/13)
It was the Tar Heels fewest points in a game and in a half (18) and the worst shooting (34.5 percent) in a game this season. For the first time in a long time (1966) the Tar Heels failed to have a scorer in double figures. That all resulted in the Cavaliers’ seventh straight victory over Carolina.
Virginia hit five three pointers in the first nine minutes of the game to streak out to that 21-4 lead. Oddly enough, the Tar Heels outscored the Cavaliers the rest of the way as Virginia shot just 39 percent themselves and relied on the three-point shot to hold the Heels at bay.
The Cavaliers had more three-point baskets (10) than two-point baskets (9) to keep Carolina from getting the margin closer than seven the rest of the way.
“Their defense is always good,” UNC coach Roy Williams said, pointing out half a dozen relatively easy baskets at the start of the game that the Heels missed. “We needed to make some of those early. That would have really helped us.”
Coach Williams added that Virginia’s big guys were tough for the Heels to handle out at the perimeter. That was an understatement as UVA’s Jay Huff, a 7-footer, hit three of five three pointers while Sam Hauser, a 6-foot-8 forward, hit four of six three pointers.
Add that to the fact that Carolina missed all nine of its three-point shots in the first half and only managed two of 16 threes for the game and Coach Williams said that’s going to make for a long night.
The Tar Heels were down by just nine at the half but didn’t really threaten to cut into that lead until midway through the second half when the Heels turned the ball over twice with a chance to cut it to just seven. Instead, the Cavs scored the next four points and it never got closer than nine the rest of the way as Virginia got the lead up to 16 before settling for the 12-point margin.
Virginia, led by Huff’s 18 points and Hauser’s 17 points, improve to 15-3 and 11-1 in the ACC while the Tar Heels, led by Walker Kessler’s nine points, falls to 12-7 and 7-5 in the league.
Carolina’s Tuesday game against Virginia Tech has been postponed due to COVID so the Heels next scheduled game is next Saturday against Louisville.
For a box score and more on the game, please click here.