ACC Hoops: North Carolina Rolls Over Virginia, 81-66

Chapel Hill: The North Carolina Tar Heels (17-11, 10-6 ACC) took care of business against the
Virginia Cavaliers (13-14, 6-10 ACC), 81-66. The Heels controlled the game from wire-to-wire
and did not trail against the Wahoos.

The game was over for UVA before it even began as the Tar Heels got out to a blistering start,
leading 21-2 lead after making 8 of their first 12 shots and holding Virginia to 1 of 10. The Hoos
rode a 14-3 run aided by a flagrant one call that allowed them 4 chances from the charity stripe
but still went into halftime down 46-34.

The Cavaliers cut the deficit to 8 points in the second half but that was as close as they could
get. The Tar Heels were led by Jae’Lyn Withers double-double of 16 points and 11 rebounds.
Withers went 4-6 from the arc on the way to his second double double of the season. More
encouraging for the Tar Heels was Ian Jackson’s offense output. He matched Withers total of 16
points from the bench to get back on track from the offensive end. The Tar Heels had three
additional players reach double figures: RJ Davis with 12, Ven-Allen Lubin with 14, and Drake
Powell with 11.

Virginia was only able to get two players in double figures as Isaac McKneely led the way with
17 points off 2-7 from the three and a 5-5 performance from the free throw line. Dai Dai Ames
scored 12 on an efficient 5-6 night from the floor.

The Tar Heels did what was needed against the WaHoos, they won and won convincingly.
Thanks to struggles from other bubble teams, Carolina was able to gain 3 spots on Joe
Lunardi’s bracket prediction, landing in the first line on the “First Four Out” designation. The Tar
Heels entered the day sitting 4th in that category. The Heel’s were aided by the losses of two
ACC foes as SMU fell to home against the Clemson Tigers and Wake Forest lost on the road in
Raleigh against the NC State Wolfpack.

The Tar Heels are seemingly in control of their own postseason destiny. The Heels sit at #45 in
the NET rankings and wont make too many moves over the next three games. The Heels travel
to Florida State on Monday and then host the Miami Hurricanes. Next week they play at Virginia
Tech and host rival Duke. FSU is a quad 2 game for the Heels, Miami a quad 4, Virginia Tech a
quad 3, and Duke a quad 1. The Heels can only hurt themselves against their upcoming
schedule until the finale against Duke.

UNC can do what they have done best in the Hubert Davis era, play spoiler for the Blue Devils. Despite their record and current form, the Blue Devils sit #3 in the AP Polls and have bounced from the #2 overall seed to the #3 and only have a 1 game lead over the Clemson Tigers in the ACC Standings. The Tigers also hold the tiebreaker.

If the Heels can beat the Blue Devils in the Dean Dome, they can solidify their resume with a
Quad 1 victory and potentially cost the Blue Devils the #1 seed in the ACC tournament and the
NCAA tournament.