Virginia's Second-Half Run Was A Tad Better Than UNC's

CHAPEL HILL – After sorting through everything that went into North Carolina’s 69-61 loss to Virginia on Monday night at the Smith Center, it really came down to whose second-half run reaped a greater reward.

Both teams put together impressive stretches where they looked like big-time national title contenders, yet each was also on the receiving end of the eruptions. Since Virginia won the game, though, a fairly easy verdict points to the fourth-ranked Cavaliers’ run as the winner in this debate.

Given the last couple of months, that was perhaps what was most off-kilter for UNC from its previous performances.

Eighth-ranked Carolina has put together significant runs in most of its last 12 victories beginning with a 30-3 explosion versus UNC-Wilmington on Dec. 5. On Monday night, it was a 17-3 UNC run that turned a 40-32 Virginia lead with 17:45 left in the contest into 49-43 Tar Heels’ advantage with 12:06 remaining after Coby White rattled home a 3-pointer from the top of the key.

“We had a great run for eight to 10 minutes, or whatever it is, and things were going our way,” UNC Coach Roy Williams said after the game.

The Tar Heels were 7-for-10 from the floor in the period, including hitting two of three from 3-point range. Four of the baskets were assisted. On the other end of the floor, UVA was 1-for-8, including 1-4 from beyond the arc, and the Cavaliers uncharacteristically turned over the ball three times.

Fast forward five game minutes and UNC (19-5 overall, 9-2 ACC) owned a 55-48 lead with 7:51 left in the contest, so the Heels had a 26-12 advantage in the second half through those first 12 minutes. But it was all UVA (21-2, 9-2) from that point on, as the Cavaliers closed on a 21-6 run for the victory.

The Heels were just 2-for-14 from the field in the stretch, including 0-6 from the perimeter while UVA was 7-for-8, including 4-5 from 3-point range, with five of the baskets assisted and no turnovers.

“They made shots and we didn’t and we made shots and they didn’t,” UNC senior Cam Johnson said. “Every basketball game you can point to stretches where there’s runs back and forth, (but) we just need to be able to nip those in the bud when they start and kind of make one of our own.”

Runs do happen, but the Heels believe they let this one get away from them and point to a specific moment late in the contest where maybe the game did creep away.

“It got away from us, definitely,” sophomore forward Garrison Brooks said. “The momentum swung to them, especially when Coby’s three didn’t count. I feel like that was a huge swing.”

Coby’s three was a 40-foot 3-point shot by Coby White as the shot clock hit zero apparently giving UNC a 62-59 lead with 3:29 left in the game. It was an off-balance shot as White, who got possession of the ball after a mad scramble toward the middle of the court, didn’t know the shot clock was winding down until Williams got his attention.

White launched the shot with one leg higher in the air than the other, yet the ball swished through the cylinder sending the Dean Dome into a frenzy. But that was short lived, as the officials reviewed the video of the play and determined the clock had expired. Seventeen game seconds later, Virginia’s Jay Huff converted a layup giving UVA the lead for good.

Williams said the final run was more about Virginia simply playing better than North Carolina.

“I think their defense got stronger,” he said. “We took a couple of rushed shots, didn't make shots. I don't think we turned the ball over but eight times, but I think we had two turnovers during that stretch, too.”

For all that happened Monday night, including UNC taking 20 more shots than the Wahoos, it’s not a stretch saying the game came down to UVA’s run bettering Carolina’s.

The other runs: Versus Gonzaga (19-3); Davidson (42-11); Harvard (22-3); At Pittsburgh (24-2); at N.C. State (16-4); Virginia Tech (20-0); at Georgia Tech (25-2); at Louisville (26-6) and home versus N.C. State (19-7).