No. 23 Virginia put up an impressive defensive performance as it upset No. 5 North Carolina, 53-43, in a Big Monday matchup.
The Cavaliers (20-9, 10-7 ACC) handed the red-hot Tar Heels (25-6, 13-4 ACC) their lowest point total ever in the 14 years coach Roy Williams has been at the helm of the program. The 43 points North Carolina scored were also the lowest point total overall since 1979.
“I told our guys before this game that this was a golden opportunity for us,” coach Tony Bennett said. “The ability to just be in the moment — it was going to be hard, but you know what you have to do. Those little things are the difference for us.”
Bennett shook things up with his starting lineup, putting two freshman guards — Ty Jerome and Kyle Guy — on the court to start things off.
North Carolina opened the scoring and jumped out to a 7-0 lead before Jerome put Virginia’s first points on the board — a long three-pointer with 16:05 left in the half.
The Cavaliers’ defense kept them in the game and allowed Virginia to crawl back offensively, as a jumper from senior point guard London Perrantes eventually tied the game up at seven points apiece. The crowd at John Paul Jones Arena went wild for a long three from Guy as the shot clock expired to make the score 10-7. After North Carolina senior forward Kennedy Meeks made a basket to cut into the score and make it 12-9, Guy fired off another three, extending Virginia’s lead to 15-9.
Senior guard Nate Britt and junior forward Justin Jackson scored back-to-back three-pointers, giving the lead back to the Tar Heels and making the score 21-20.
North Carolina didn’t hold a lead for long, as junior center Jack Salt made a free throw shot followed by a jumper from junior guard Devon Hall and Virginia jumped back out to a 23-21 lead. Hall added another two points and Perrantes made two free throws to pull the Cavaliers to a 27-23 lead at halftime.
Hall opened up scoring in the second half with a basket from beyond the arc which was followed up by another three-pointer from Guy. The Tar Heels began to cut into Virginia’s lead, going on a 6-0 run to trail 33-29 with 14:57 left, but the Cavaliers resisted, pushing their lead to 38-29 after two made free throw shots and another three-pointer from Guy.
Guy led Virginia in scoring, chipping in five three-pointers to record 17 points and six rebounds.
“[Guy] means a lot to us,” Hall said. “If he’s hitting shots, we’re going to find him … If he’s able to get going, he opens up the floor for a lot of people.”
The Tar Heels cut into Virginia’s lead once again, as a three-pointer from junior guard Joel Berry II made the score 38-35. Perrantes made a much-needed three-pointer after the teams traded scores to push the score to 43-39, and followed with his third three-pointer of the night to extend the lead to 46-39. Salt added on a basket to stretch the lead to 48-39.
Perrantes continued his resurgence out of his slump, making four three-pointers to tally 13 points in all. His defense on North Carolina’s Jackson was also key in Virginia’s victory.
“I really enjoy watching [Perrantes] play when he’s playing something else,” coach Williams said. “I really don’t enjoy watching him play when he’s playing us.”
The Cavalier defense continued to be stingy, forcing North Carolina to commit 14 turnovers. In the second half a double block by Salt and redshirt freshman forward Mamadi Diakite kept the Tar Heels from gaining a layup and kept the score at 48-41.
“They’re a good team,” Williams said. “They shot 32 percent and beat us, and that’s because of how well they played defensively … I don’t think it was as much about what we did wrong as it was how good their defense was.”
Perrantes scored his fourth three-pointer of the night to give the Cavaliers a 10-point lead and push the score to 51-41. After a couple of made free throws by North Carolina, the Cavaliers regained their 10-point lead with a layup from Guy. The crowd in JPJ got louder as time expired on Virginia’s 53-43 upset of North Carolina.
“The crowd was incredible,” Bennett said. “They saw us lay it on the line. Some people may not like how it was because it’s low scoring, but that's the only way we’re going to beat a team like [North] Carolina.”
Although Virginia shot 32.2 percent over the course of the game, its defense held North Carolina to 35.4 percent shooting — their lowest point total of the season.
The Cavaliers will hope to keep their momentum going as they host their final regular season game Saturday against Pittsburgh.
Read More
Workin' for a livin'
By Ellie Hanson | August 16, 2017I quickly set out in search of summer work, determined to go out in the world and make the big bucks — or, you know, minimum wage.
Todd DeSorbo named swimming and diving coach
By Rahul Shah | August 8, 2017DeSorbo will be moving from one ACC team to another, as he is coming off six seasons as NC State’s associate head coach.
Are we destined to be our parents?
By Sarah Ashman | August 7, 2017First, we realize the impact our home environments made on us. However, that’s only half the battle.
