Field Level Media
Feb 13, 2021
Jay Huff's 18 points and Sam Hauser's 17 points propelled No. 9 Virginia to a 60-48 win over cold-shooting North Carolina on Saturday night in Charlottesville, Va.
First-place Virginia (15-3, 11-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) has won four games in a row since its only league loss. Trey Murphy III added 12 points for the Cavaliers, and Huff grabbed 12 rebounds.
Freshman post player Walker Kessler scored nine points off the bench to pace North Carolina (12-7, 7-5), which trailed by double figures for large portions of the game and was unable to put together a sustained rally. Armando Bacot pulled down 10 rebounds for North Carolina.
The Tar Heels finished with a season-low point total a week after recording a season-high mark in a 91-87 victory at Duke.
In the game's first 27 minutes Saturday, eight North Carolina players had scored, but none of them had exceeded five points. The Tar Heels ended up shooting 2-for-16 from 3-point range and 6-for-12 from the foul line.
The Cavaliers have won seven consecutive matchups with North Carolina. The Tar Heels last won in Charlottesville in 2012.
Virginia broke out to a 21-4 lead. Almost 15 minutes passed before North Carolina had a player with more than three points.
Still, the Tar Heels closed within seven points before trailing 27-18 at the break.
North Carolina missed its last four shots of the half and checked in at 25 percent, including a 0-for-9 mark on 3-pointers, in the first half.
Early in the second half, a Kerwin Walton 3-pointer pulled North Carolina within 34-23. Walter added the team's other 3-pointer later in the game.
The Tar Heels hadn't played in a week since topping Duke. A scheduled Monday home game against Miami was called off after video surfaced of at least two maskless North Carolina players celebrating the result of the Duke game, thus causing concerns regarding coronavirus protocols. As a result, the Virginia contest was the Tar Heels' fourth consecutive road game.
--Field Level Media