By all accounts, Saturday wasn’t prototypical Virginia basketball. The Tar Heels, after all, dropped 74 points on coach Tony Bennett’s vaunted pack-line defense, which by game time Saturday was holding teams to 59.7 points per game. And not just that — North Carolina shot 49.2 percent from the floor, including 47.4 percent from the three-point line.
But on a night when ESPN’s College Gameday was in town for the top-10 ACC matchup, Bennett will gladly take the win, however it comes.
The Virginia offense stole the spotlight, as four Cavaliers reached double figures in a 79-74 win against No. 7 North Carolina (23-6, 12-4 ACC). Senior guard Malcolm Brogdon scored 26 points, just two shy of his career high he hit again Monday against Miami.
The All-American was just part of the puzzle, however, as Virginia took down the Tar Heels to improve to 5-1 against ranked opponents this season. The No. 3 Cavaliers (22-6, 11-5 ACC)
never pulled away by more than 11 points, but they dictated the game, only allowing North Carolina to lead for 1:36 over the full 40 minutes.
“The biggest factor in the game to me is they played with a high level of intensity on both offense and defense,” North Carolina coach Roy Williams said. “They were the actors, and we were the reactors.”
Brogdon dropped 17 points in the first half, going 6-for-8 from the field, including 2-for-2 from deep. He also snagged four of his six rebounds and showed hustle on the defensive end, hitting the deck to swat away a pass in transition.
“Malcolm in the first half was as good of a performance as we’ve had against us this season, [and] maybe several years,” Williams said.
Still, Brogdon’s final first-half basket came with 6:37 to play, and although he remained on the court, playing 38 minutes Saturday, Virginia found the balance it was lacking against Miami.
Sophomore guard Devon Hall buried two treys, including one from the top of the arc that broke a 7-7 tie 3:40 into the game. Sophomore forward Isaiah Wilkins, a surprise start after leaving the Miami game with a head injury, practiced Thursday and Friday, allowing him to add six of his eight points in the first half.
“At Miami, Malcolm was terrific and there wasn’t as much balance in our scoring,” Bennett said. “Tonight, we had four guys in double figures [and] Isaiah with eight. To beat a team the caliber of North Carolina, you have to have that offensively.”
Virginia outscored the Tar Heels, 32-28, in the paint, a notable accomplishment given that North Carolina led all power-five conference teams by averaging 41.0 points in the paint per game entering Saturday night. With senior forward Brice Johnson and junior forwards Kennedy Meeks and Isaiah Hicks all listed at or above 6-foot-9, the undersized Cavalier frontcourt did a good job controlling the paint.
Although North Carolina outrebounded Virginia, 36-33, the Cavaliers led in second chance points, 14-10. Johnson, a candidate for ACC player of the year, was held to 12 points and seven rebounds, along with five turnovers, including a wild second-half pass that went several rows into the stands.
“[I] tried to deny [Johnson] the ball as much as possible — he can’t score if he doesn’t have the ball — and keep him off the glass,” Wilkins said.
The Cavaliers used a 16-5 second-half run and six straight points from senior forward Anthony Gill to take a 65-54 lead with 8:34 left to play. Gill, who had been in a recent slump, was one rebound shy of a double-double, scoring 15 points and grabbing nine boards, including four on the offensive glass.
“In these last couple games, I haven’t been putting the ball in the basket like I should be,” Gill said. “It’s no lack of confidence, the ball just hasn’t been going in. Tonight was an opportunity for me to really show that I can continue to help this team out.”
A three by North Carolina senior guard Marcus Paige with 17 seconds to play made it a one-score game, but Hall sank his ensuing two free throws to seal the win.
Virginia shot 44.3 percent from the field, including a 7-of-16 effort from three and an 18-of-21 performance from the charity stripe.
“They were so much more aggressive on both ends of the court,” Williams said. “Their offense was more aggressive than our defense was, and their defense was more aggressive than our offense was. I think they are really a good team.”
Virginia will next face Clemson Tuesday in Greenville, S.C. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
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