UNC will look to stay above 0.500 in the ACC as the Tar Heels play in Virginia at the Smith Center.
Carolina lost at Notre Dame earlier this week, 78-73, to drop to 10-4 this year and 2-1 in the conference, following unbalanced ACC wins over Georgia Tech and Boston College.
Three players were missing in the Heels against the Irish and will recover one. Former horseman Justin McKoy returns after missing two games due to COVID protocols. He’s dressed up and going through warm-ups to play his old team. Sophomore Puff Johnson, who has yet to play this season, is also in uniform and warming up.
The other two UNC regulars are not in uniform for the game. Dawson Garcia will miss his second straight game after entering concussion protocol from a blow to the head early in the Boston College game, and Kerwin Walton is missing his second straight game due to COVID protocols.
Virginia comes out of back-to-back road wins at Syracuse and Clemson to move up to 9-5, 3-1 in the ACC. The Cavaliers have struggled at times this season, losing to Navy, Houston, Iowa and James Madison in the non-conference schedule.
UVA continues to be one of the nation’s leaders in two-point defense, overall defense, and shot blocking rates. However, opponents have managed to knock out all three against the Cavs’ pack line defense in the last few games. Pitt was 8 of 16 of three, and Clemson was 9 of 20 in the last game.
It will be UNC’s first home conference game of the season, as the Heels started with three straight road games for the fourth time in their history and the first since Michael Jordan’s junior year.
Your officials: Bert Simth, AJ Desai and everyone’s favorite photographer: Roger Ayers
Your starters: Black, Love, Davis, Bacot, Manek
Bacot with two first tip ins and UNC leads 6-5 in the under 16s.
Manek has two early turnovers. Virginia is 1-2 of three on Clark’s two attempts.
All Bacot and Manning so far. They have scored all 15 points for UNC and are a combined 7 of 11. The rest of the squad is 0 for 2. We go to the under 12s with UNC in the lead 15-12.
McCoy enters against his old team and quickly shoots a foul
McCoy hits a shot and shoots a second foul, both against Murray.
Beekman gets a two pick after a bad pass from Harris. Ball bounces off him as he comes up the floor and he throws him at Love, who has been set up to enter but isn’t looking. The bullet hits him in the side of the head. Unintentionally, but Love didn’t like it very much. The crowd either.
McCoy’s second foul affects the Under-8, UNC 19-16.
Leaky Black is marked by a turnover on a bad pass from Manek that he could not manage. Manek is clearly not used to facing UVA defense. He should have three turnovers in the first half.
Caleb Love with a sparkle. Hit a three (after dribbling in place for a few seconds), then gets a steal and a midrange jumper. UVA calls the time after the race 5-0 Love. UNC leads 26-20 with 4:10 remaining in the half.
Carolina heads to the locker room with a 31-25 lead at halftime. The heels were led by Bacot (12 points 8 rebounds), Love (10 points) and Manek (7 points)
Manek for three, Bacot with the dunk and UNC is in double digits. UVA waiting time. 36-25, 18:04 left
UNC’s latest double-digit advance on Virginia? Feb. 18, 2017
UNC asserting itself inside. Bacot has 21 and 15. UNC has a 14-0 advantage in second chance points. 26-20 edge in the paint.
Almost sure everyone on the floor performs a backdoor cut leading to a Bacot dunk. UVA Airball. Manek for three. UVA charge. Suddenly, it’s a 16-point lead. Virginia timeout.
Justin McCoy hits a three against his former team. Caroline in control, with a 62-43 lead in the Under-8 category
RJ Davis gets his first points of the day on the free throw line. He was 0 out of 10 in the field, 0 of 5 of 3.
Bacot hits 20/20 for the day
The score is 70-47 as we hit the Under 4s, with Bacot going to the line. He already has career highs in points and rebounds
It will be ok. Heels ended a seven-game losing streak against UVA with a 74-58 victory.
