A hot-shooting North Carolina team dominated early, getting out to a 21-2 lead, and put down every Virginia push to win 81-66 in Chapel Hill. (2/22)

It was the third game in a row that the Tar Heels have never trailed. It was also the first time that a Carolina team has scored more than 80 points against a Virginia team in the last 20 games between the two teams.

Five Tar Heels scored in double figures, with recent starter Jae’lyn Withers scoring 16 points and first-man-off-the-bench Ian Jackson matching that total. The two were seven of nine from beyond the three-point line with Withers stroking four and Jackson hitting three.

Both Withers and Jackson hit threes during a 15-0 Carolina run that took the lead from 6-2 to 21-2.

“They were ready to go from from the start,” UNC coach Hubert Davis said of his team, adding that except for some self-inflicted errors it was a flawless first half.

After the big Carolina start, a flagrant foul on Jalen Washington and a technical foul on Withers for taunting helped the Cavaliers go on a 7-0 run.

From that time on, the lead generally hovered in the 12 to 17 point range, with the Tar Heels getting their biggest lead on an old-fashioned three-point play by Jackson with 6:10 to go that made it 77-57.

Over the last five minutes, with mixed results, the Tar Heels burned clock and waited until late in the clock to attempt to score. RJ Davis, who managed 12 points, had an off night shooting as he missed all four of his three-point attempts and went just three of 14 from the field.

“I feel like we’re playing better as a team – one that doesn’t rely on RJ to have a huge night,” Coach Davis said, adding that everybody who plays is contributing.

One of those is Withers, who has averaged more than 14 points over the last three games and led the Tar Heels with 11 rebounds against Virginia. “When JWit is on the floor and he plays well on both ends of the court, he completely changes our team for the good,” Coach Davis said.

The Tar Heels hit 9-for-16 from beyond the arc (56.3 percent) and outrebounded the Cavaliers 32-21 on the way to improving their record to 17-11 and 10-6 in the ACC.

Isaac McKneely’s 17 points led Virginia, which falls to 13-14 and 6-10 in the conference.

It’s a quick turnaround for Carolina, who travel to Florida State Monday night.

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North Carolina, which hit 13 three pointers, never trailed but the Tar Heels did blow an 11-point lead to make for some late drama in an 88-82 victory in Syracuse. (2/15)

Carolina had to withstand a career high 26 points from Orange big man Eddie Lampkin and 20 second-half points from J.J. Starling. UNC’s Jae’lyn Withers, who got a rare start, and freshman Ian Jackson played big parts in offsetting the Syracuse effort.

Jackson, who hit five threes, scored 16 of his team-high 23 points in the first half as the Heels worked the lead up to 11 before settling for a 42-34 halftime edge.

In the second half, after Carolina held comfortable leads of seven to 11 points, Starling scored seven straight points to highlight an 8-0 Syracuse run that tied the game at 60-60.

With the Heels up just 65-64, Withers took over, scoring eight in a row including a pair of old-fashioned three-point plays. The second one came on a fastbreak rush by two defenders on a lead pass from R.J. Davis which made it 73-64 with 7:26 left.

“JWit came up huge for us,” UNC coach Hubert Davis said. “Yes, he was rebounding and he hit some threes (3) but where he helped us out the most was defensively. He played his best game of the season.”

When RJ Davis drilled a three from the right wing with 4:44 to go to make it 78-68, it looked like the Heels had the game under total control again.

But Carolina missed a couple of key free throws and Withers and Jalen Washington both fouled out, and Syracuse clawed back to winthin a basket at 82-80 with 58 seconds to go.

A drive-by layup by Eliot Cadeau and four free throws from Davis and Drake Powell wrapped it up.

“They have so much size that it makes it difficult with them in the zone (defense) for us to get to boards,” Coach Davis said. “You’ve got to knock down some jumpers.”

The Tar Heels outshot the Orange 49 percent to 44 percent and hit 13 of 28 threes while Syracuse only managed four of 13 from beyond the arc.

Carolina, which snapped a four-game road losing streak, is now 15-11 overall and 8-6 in the ACC. The Tar Heels host NC State Wednesday at 7 p.m.

Syracuse, 11-15 overall and 5-10 in the league, has now lost six of its last eight.

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