UNC Tar Heels Basketball Team Falls to the Cavaliers
by Derrick Clyburn
The North Carolina basketball team was looking to break their seven-game losing streak tonight against #13 Virginia but with Armando Bacot getting injured in the first minute and a half of the game that would be a tall task. The Tar Heels were already without Pete Nance for the second game and now they were down to their freshman Jalen Washington who had a breakout first half carrying the Carolina offense with 12 first-half points.
Caleb Love and R.J. Davis struggled for most of the first half going 3 of 15 from the field and 5 turnovers. Jalen Washington, Leaky Black, and DeMarco Dunn kept North Carolina in the game and they led at halftime by 2 points.
In the second half, it was a back-and-forth game. No one could take control of the game. Around the 8-minute mark, Virginia started hitting threes and opened up the game led by Ben Vander Plas who hit 3 three-pointers. the Virginia lead grew to 10 points. North Carolina would come back late with 3 Caleb Love three-pointers to get to within 3 points but they wouldn’t get any closer.
UNC Game Stats
| 1 | 2 | T | |
| North Carolina 11-6 | 29 | 29 | 58 |
| 13 Virginia 12-3 | 27 | 38 | 65 |
| STARTERS | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| R. Davis | 16 | 3 | 1 | 6/12 | 3/5 | 1/2 | 3 | 35 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| C. Love | 13 | 4 | 5 | 4/13 | 3/9 | 2/2 | 2 | 36 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| L. Black | 7 | 6 | 0 | 3/8 | 1/5 | 0/0 | 3 | 30 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| S. Trimble | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0/2 | 0/0 | 2/2 | 3 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| A. Bacot | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| BENCH | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| J. Washington | 13 | 6 | 0 | 5/11 | 0/2 | 3/6 | 1 | 27 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| D. Dunn | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2/4 | 1/3 | 0/0 | 3 | 22 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| J. McKoy | 2 | 6 | 1 | 1/3 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| T. Nickel | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| P. Johnson | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 3 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| STARTERS | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| R. Beekman | 13 | 2 | 5 | 5/12 | 0/2 | 3/4 | 0 | 39 | 5 | 1 | 2 |
| A. Franklin | 12 | 9 | 2 | 4/13 | 0/5 | 4/7 | 0 | 36 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| K. Clark | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3/8 | 0/1 | 1/3 | 2 | 38 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| J. Gardner | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1/2 | 0/0 | 1/2 | 3 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| K. Shedrick | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1/2 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 2 | 18 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| BENCH | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| B. Vander Plas | 17 | 8 | 1 | 6/10 | 3/7 | 2/3 | 2 | 27 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| I. McKneely | 11 | 1 | 1 | 4/5 | 3/4 | 0/0 | 1 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| R. Dunn | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| F. Caffaro | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
UNC Bright Spots
RJ Davis had 16 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 steal.
Caleb Love had 13 points, 4 rebounds, and 5 assists.
Jalen Washington had a career-high 13 points and 6 rebounds.
Needs Work
Caleb Love and R.J. Davis will determine the success or failure of the team. They have to take command of the game by running the offense and being play-makers. They had 8 turnovers between them.
The Tar Heels need to play better team defense. They allowed too many easy baskets by not playing man and ball or coming late on help-side defense.
Final Observations
The Tar Heels improve to 11-6 on the season and 3-3 in ACC. We know that they were unexpectedly short-handed on the interior with the injury to Armando Bacot but they had opportunities to extend the lead that they had for most of the game. They just didn’t capitalize on it.
Jalen Washington was a pleasant surprise tonight showing off his offensive skills. Hopefully, this will give him a boost in confidence moving forward. The Tar heels must regroup and now prepare for Louisville on Saturday at 2 pm.