UNC Basketball Moments After – UNC vs Virginia 85-80 Win
UNC Tar Heels Basketball Team Snatches Away Victory Out of the Virginia Cavaliers’ Hands on the Road
by Derrick Isaiah Clyburn
The North Carolina basketball team faced off against Virginia for another good road test on Saturday afternoon. The Tar Heels got off to a slow start early on with multiple turnovers and bad perimeter and transition defense that led to open Virginia threes and shots around the basket. Virginia went up to 10-2 early before the Heels went on a run 12-4 run to tie the game up after being more disruptive defensively with contested shots and being active in passing lanes, along with better movement offensively that led to quality shots. Overall, Virginia was just more aggressive getting to the basket and into the paint than the Tar Heels, which led to great shots inside or on the perimeter for the Cavaliers.
Carolina wasn’t giving the effort needed to disrupt Virginia’s offense consistently. There were too many late rotations, late closeouts, and possessions where a Carolina player was out of position that gave Virginia the ability to score. UNC also gave up multiple offensive rebounds that led to 14 second-chance points in the first half. Virginia led by as much as 16 in the first half as the Tar Heels played one of the worst halves of the season. North Carolina shot 35% from the field due to bad shot selection and multiple bad possessions where the ball wasn’t moving or no mismatches were taken advantage of. Luka Bogavac’s 11 points and Caleb Wilson’s 10 points kept the Heels in the game, and Carolina went on a 7-0 run going into halftime to only be down 9 going into halftime.
In the second half, the Tar Heels played like a totally different team. Carolina was playing with much more energy, intensity, and effort on both ends of the floor. Defensively, the Tar Heels were much more active with their hands getting deflections and contesting shots, and they were better with their communication, closing out on shooters, quicker on their rotations, and the ball pressure was tougher on the Virgina perimeter players. The UNC offense was just much more efficient, and guys on the floor were generating good shots almost every time down the floor because of their inside-out play.
Derek Dixon really sparked UNC with his second-half play. Dixon was pushing the pace after missed shots, made baskets, and he made throw-ahead passes to his teammates up the court that led to easy baskets. Carolina had 16 points off turnovers and 14 fast break points in the second half because of the increase in pace and them playing in transition more often. With just over 11 minutes of the game, the Tar Heels took their first lead of the game after being down 16, and it would be a back-and-forth game until the very end. UNC forward Jarin Stevenson was huge off the bench with Heni Veesaar struggling and had 17 second-half points, including 2 huge threes down the stretch, along with some great defense throughout the final minutes of the game.
North Carolina looked unstoppable offensively in the final few minutes and was just more aggressive attacking the basket and getting into the paint than they were in the first half. The UNC guards did a great job with their dribble penetration and using their floaters, runners, and midrange game to combat the Virginia length around the basket. The Tar Heels shot 49% from the field (66% in the second) and outscored the Cavaliers 51-37 after halftime. Caleb Wilson, Jarin Stevenson, Seth Trimble, Luka Bogavac, and Derek Dixon all scored in double figures, and all made impact plays in crunch-time, with Jarin Stevenson and Caleb Wilson making the two biggest baskets of the game to essentially put Virginia away. Virginia gave Carolina everything they could handle, outrebounding the Tar Heels and outscoring the Heels in the paint because of their unique size and length inside, but UNC fought back and just took this game from the Cavaliers with multiple contributions from different players. North Carolina showed tremendous grit, toughness, and heart to overcome the big deficit in the first half and pulled out a massive win over #14-ranked Virginia.
UNC Stats
| 1 | 2 | T | |
| 22 North Carolina 16-4 | 34 | 51 | 85 |
| 14 Virginia 16-3 | 43 | 37 | 80 |
| Starters | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| C. Wilson | 20 | 4 | 2 | 8/12 | 0/0 | 4/6 | 2 | 35 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| S. Trimble | 16 | 5 | 2 | 5/6 | 2/2 | 4/6 | 1 | 34 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| D. Dixon | 11 | 4 | 7 | 4/11 | 2/3 | 1/2 | 1 | 32 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| H. Veesaar | 7 | 1 | 2 | 3/8 | 1/3 | 0/0 | 4 | 28 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| J. Young | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0/2 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Bench | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| J. Stevenson | 17 | 1 | 0 | 6/9 | 2/4 | 3/3 | 3 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| L. Bogavac | 14 | 1 | 1 | 4/7 | 3/5 | 3/5 | 0 | 28 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| K. Evans | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0/4 | 0/3 | 0/0 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Z. High | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| J. Powell | 0 | 7 | 2 | 0/1 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| I. Denis | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| I. Matlekovic | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| J. Brown | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| E. Davis | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| J. Holbrook | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| E. Smith | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Total | 85 | 25 | 17 | 30/61 | 10/22 | 15/22 | 14 | – | 5 | 3 | 4 |
| Starters | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| T. De Ridder | 20 | 8 | 2 | 7/11 | 1/1 | 5/8 | 1 | 30 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| M. Thomas | 11 | 5 | 2 | 3/12 | 3/8 | 2/4 | 4 | 28 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| S. Lewis | 11 | 6 | 0 | 4/7 | 1/2 | 2/2 | 1 | 28 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| D. Hall | 8 | 7 | 4 | 4/8 | 0/2 | 0/0 | 2 | 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| J. Grunloh | 6 | 4 | 1 | 2/7 | 1/4 | 1/2 | 3 | 22 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Bench | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| C. Mallory | 11 | 3 | 3 | 3/7 | 1/4 | 4/4 | 4 | 24 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| U. Onyenso | 8 | 1 | 0 | 4/5 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 1 | 18 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| D. Tillis | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1/3 | 1/2 | 0/0 | 2 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| J. White | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1/4 | 0/3 | 0/0 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| E. Gertrude | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| D. Roberts | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| C. Lang | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| M. Carrere | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| S. Barksdale | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| O. Odom | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Total | 80 | 38 | 14 | 29/64 | 8/27 | 14/20 | 18 | – | 2 | 2 | 10 |
UNC Bright Spots
Caleb Wilson had 20 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks.
Jarin Stevenson had 17 points and 1 rebound.
Seth Trimble had 16 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals.
Luka Bogavac had 14 points, 1 rebound, and 1 assist.
Derek Dixon had 11 points, 7 assists, and 4 rebounds.
Needs Work
While the Tar Heels were much better defensively in this game, they need to be better on the defensive glass, limiting second-chance opportunities. They allowed 16 offensive rebounds and 16 second-chance points, which means the right effort is just not being put forth in that area. Everyone on the court needs to be aggressively attacking the defense to finish off defensive possessions
The Tar Heels must be better from the free-throw line. That is now 13 straight games shooting 70% or less from the free-throw line, which is totally unacceptable with all the good shooters they have on this team. They must be focused on being better by converting those opportunities.
Final Observations
The Tar Heels got a much-needed road win over Virginia and improved to a 16-4 record. Hubert Davis is now 5-2 against Virginia in his coaching tenure. The fight and toughness the Heels showed in this game to come back from a 16-point deficit on the road were tremendous. They’ve got good contributions from Caleb Wilson, Henri Veesar, and Seth Trimble all season long, but when they needed it most today, guys like Derek Dixon, Jarin Stevenson, and Luka Bogavac all stepped up and made winning, impactful plays to help pull off this win. This bodes well for the Tar Heels going forward because guys are getting more comfortable in their roles and the team is benefiting from it.
They know what they’re getting from Caleb Wilson, Seth Trimble, and Henri Veesaar, but if they can get consistent contributions from at least three other guys from night to night, they will win most of their games. Caleb Wilson continues to have an outstanding season, scoring 20 once again, breaking the freshman record for most 20-point games in a season. Hubert Davis seems to be pushing the right buttons, making the right rotations and adjustments for this team to be in the position to succeed. He needs to continue to play the players who are playing the hardest defensively and being aggressive offensively. If they can continue to improve their perimeter defense, improve their free throw shooting, and get consistent production from their guards and multiple players off the bench, they can reach their ceiling as a team and be ready to make a run in March. Next up is Georgia Tech on Saturday, January 31, at 2:00 p.m. on the ACC Network
A road won is always a good win, especially when it is a conference game. You noted that they took the game nearing the end of the game. Maybe this will build their confidence for their next game. Thank you for sharing this blog with me.