North Carolina is 131-60 all-time versus Virginia in basketball, though you’d never know it given how the series has changed over the last decade.
This may not be what UNC fans want to hear, but Tony Bennett and UVA essentially own the Tar Heels. At least they have of late.
With Carolina’s 60-48 loss to the Cavaliers in Charlottesville on Saturday night, the losing streak to the Wahoos is now at seven games. Four have taken place at John Paul Jones Arena, one in Brooklyn in the ACC championship in 2018, and two have been at the Smith Center in Chapel Hill.
The Tar Heels’ last win over UVA was Feb. 18, 2017, when the eventual national champions claimed a 65-41 victory.
At the risk of sounding like a late-night infomercial selling knives or cookware, wait, there’s more:
*The average score in those games is UVA 62, UNC 53.3.
*Carolina has failed to score more than 65 points versus UVA over its last nine meetings.
*UNC has scored 70 or more points in just four of its 19 games against Virginia since Tony Bennett became its head coach before the 2009-10 season.
*The Tar Heels’ record versus Bennett as UVA’s coach is just 7-12.
*A note going viral around the nation right now is that Saturday was the fourth straight time UNC hasn’t reached the 50-point mark at Virginia, a truly remarkable stat. The average score in those games is UVA 57.5, UNC 46.8. The Heels have shot 33.9 percent from the floor in those games, including 21.7 percent from three-point range, and have just 46 second chance points while allowing UVA 66 points off turnovers.
Yeah, there’s more.
UNC has played 406 basketball games against teams not named Virginia since Bennett was hired averaging 80.2 points per contest in those games. In its 19 battles versus the Cavaliers in that span, the Heels have averaged just 61.1 points.
Those numbers aren’t presented to embarrass the Tar Heels after yet another rough trip to the Grounds, it’s simply acknowledging a reality that has come to light quite clearly in recent years.
“I can't speak to all our teams in the past,” Williams said, following the loss when asked why his program's recent struggles versus UVA. “I mean, last year, we have a lead and they make one with eight tenths of a second to go. The year before we played them in the Smith Center and they had to go to the video to decide that Coby’s (White) three-pointer was not good. And then they laid it up and had to go to another video to see if it was good for them and both those calls went their way…
“Tony does a great job. They've got good players. They won a national championship in that time period, too. And they had three guys, (Ty) Jerome and (Kyle) Guy and (De’Andre) Hunter that were all three number one draft choices. So, they're a good basketball team and Tony does a great job with him.”
One could easily argue Virginia has been the best program in the ACC over the last several years, especially with the Hoos winning the 2019 national title. But the narrower focus here is how it relates to Williams’ program, which one can argue has been the ACC’s best since Bennett was hired.
So, it must be maddening to Williams his teams not only lose more often than not to Bennett’s, but it seemingly must try to win those games playing totally out of character. Slower paces, fewer shots, facing teams that don’t beat themselves, and something now that might be turning into a psyche thing more than anything else.
That’s a tough hole from which to pull oneself.
Carolina’s fabled program has been through stretches before when an opponent had its number, and it’s in th midst of one right now. It doesn’t mean these Tar Heels can’t accomplish many of their goals, and perhaps they get another crack at the Wahoos in Greensboro. But it does mean the next time Carolina defeats one of Bennett’s clubs, it will be a monumental achievement.
That time will come, though it’s not exactly trending in that direction.
