UNC Basketball Moments After – UNC VS Virginia 81-66 Win

UNC Tar Heels Basketball Team Pounds the Virginia Cavaliers for Their Third Straight Victory

by Derrick Isaiah Clyburn

The North Carolina basketball team faced off against Virginia on Saturday night, looking to extend their current winning streak to three. The Tar Heels couldn’t have had a better start to the game, outscoring the Cavaliers 21-2 in the opening minutes. UNC was locked in and focused on both ends of the floor as Virginia had no answers. Offensively, the Heels were moving the ball around to the open man to get quality shots every time down the floor and were smothering and disruptive defending UVA’s offense. North Carolina hit 8 of their first 12 shots while holding the Cavaliers to 1-10 from the field to build their lead. Carolina even had 11 rebounds before Virginia grabbed their first rebound at the 12:30 mark in the first half.

As the Tar Heels were looking to put the game completely out of reach, UVA climbed back into the game after a strange sequence of events including a questionable flagrant foul against UNC center Jalen Washington, a technical foul on UNC forward Jaelyn Withers and some unforced turnovers by the Heels. These miscues by UNC helped fuel a 14-3 Virginia that cut the Tar Heel lead to 8, but Carolina’s lead never went below 8 and once they cut down on their turnovers continued to shoot the ball well from the floor. North Carolina finished the half shooting 56% from the field, 6-8 from the three-point line, and led by 12 going into halftime.  

The Tar Heels started the second half on a 7-2 run before a timeout was called. Carolina continued to put pressure on Virginia on both ends of the floor, forcing the Cavaliers to play at their pace with the Heels being in complete control of the game. UNC dominated this game from start to finish as they led by double figures for much of the game. North Carolina’s use of versatility and ball pressure on defense was tremendous and the different ways they attacked the Cavaliers offensively with either dribble penetration, pick and roll actions, one-on-one breakdown, or motion offense for baskets gave Virginia fits all game long. The Heels shot a season-high 56% from three-point range, which was the best three-point percentage in a game for a UNC team since December 6, 2021.  Four Tar Heels finished the game in double figures including Ian Jackson, Jaelyn Withers, Ven Allen-Lubin, and Drake Powell. This was the third straight game UNC had led a game from start to finish, extending their winning streak to three after their 81-66 victory over the Cavaliers. 

Final

	1	2	T
UVA	34	32	66
UNC	46	35	81

UNC Bright Spots  

Jaelyn Withers had 16 points, 11 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 steal 

Ian had 16 points and 1 rebound. 

Ven Allen-Lubin had 14 points and 6 rebounds 

RJ Davis had 12 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 steal. 

Drake Powell had 11 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 assists. 

Needs Work  

The Tar Heels must address the stretches of games where they have several minutes without scoring. North Carolina needs to focus on making the easy play and moving the ball to the open man on these possessions instead of settling for contested shots and forcing bad passes.  

The Tar Heels must prioritize every possession on both sides of the floor. Every play and possession matters and should be just as important as the last. They cannot afford to get lazy and not give their all on either end of the floor, especially when they jump out to big leads. These are the habits that they can build to help them as they get ready to make a run in March. 

Final Observations 

The Tar Heels improve to 17-11 on the season, 10-6 in ACC play. The Heels are now 11-2 at home this season, 7-1 in ACC play. UNC is on a three-game winning streak and is playing some of their best basketball of the season. This is the most consistent they have played all season. Their effort, intensity, energy, and sense of urgency have been tremendous in the last two games, and hopefully, they can keep it up going forward. Going into the NC State game this past Wednesday, Coach Hubert Davis opted to go back to more of a traditional lineup with Elliott Cadeau, RJ Davis, Drake Powell, and Ven Allen-Lubin in the starting lineup. This lineup gives the Tar Heels the size they need at every position and the chance to be the most productive on the court.

The small lineup with the four guards that included RJ Davis, Ian Jackson, Seth Trimble, and Elliott Cadeau all on the floor was not working consistently. That small lineup was just too much of a liability defensively and not lethal enough offensively to give them the winning results this team expected.  Since being inserted in the lineup, Jaelyn Withers’ play has been a revelation. Withers has been a pest defensively with his versatility to guard several positions and alter shots at the rim, and offensively he has been the best three-point shooter on the team with his 43% three-point percentage. Ian Jackson, Ven-Allen Lubin, and Drake Powell have all played well with the new lineup changes and this team is now playing their best basketball.

However, they can still get even better because RJ Davis has been in a shooting slump the last couple of games and when he’s on his game the team can go to an even higher level. Carolina is shooting 55% from two-point range, the highest two-point percentage since the 1997-1998 team who shot 56% from two. The Tar Heels have a 10-3 record when they make more three-pointers than their opponent and 10-2 when they make more free throws after today’s game. They also are 12-4 when they shoot over 45% after shooting 48% against the UVA today. North Carolina is becoming more of a complete, efficient, productive team at the right time as March approaches and has shown when they are the aggressor on both ends of the floor, setting the tone and dictating the pace, they are a very good team. Next up is Florida State on Monday, February 24 at 7:00 on ESPN