North Carolina @ Virginia preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 27, 2017 ) North Carolina 43, Virginia 53

Eighth-ranked Virginia hopes to build off one of its best performances of the season and remain unbeaten in ACC play when it hosts No. 11 North Carolina on Saturday afternoon. The Cavaliers, who lead the nation in scoring defense (52.7 per game), held host Virginia Tech to just 36.2 percent shooting from the field and forced 16 turnovers in a 78-52 rout Wednesday night.

“I thought the guys really got back, and they made it hard for the most part to get a pretty good look against our defense,” Virginia coach Tony Bennett told reporters. “. … It was just a well-played game for us.” The Cavaliers will need more of the same against an angry North Carolina team that has dropped two of its last four games after an 81-80 loss at Florida State on Wednesday as Joel Berry II missed a shot in the lane for the win in the final seconds. “He was our offense for a long time in the second half,” Tar Heels coach Roy Williams told reporters of Berry, who scored 28 points in the setback. “We have to get some other guys to step up. We need to get more balance and to help him out on defense since he is doing a lot on both ends.” The positive for North Carolina is that it has not lost back-to-back games since February of 2016.

TV: 1 p.m. ET, ESPN

ABOUT NORTH CAROLINA (12-3, 1-1 ACC): Berry is averaging 21.4 points over the last five games to raise his season mark to 17.9, but is still connecting on just 39.1 percent from the field overall. Junior forward Luke Maye has cooled off a bit of late but leads the team in scoring (18.1) and rebounds (10.5) while draining 51 percent from the floor with eight double-doubles - two in the last five contests. Senior guard Cameron Johnson, a transfer from Pittsburgh, had a season-low seven points but recorded eight rebounds and six assists Wednesday in his fourth game since returning from a knee injury.

ABOUT VIRGINIA (13-1, 2-0): Freshman guard De’Andre Hunter has produced two of his four double-figure scoring performances in the last three games after recording 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting against Virginia Tech. “Honestly, I think my first ACC game was more nerve-wracking, just because it was a much different environment than what I was used to,” Hunter, who did not score in the ACC opener against Boston College, told the team’s website. “Playing the second one I was more comfortable.” Sophomore guard Kyle Guy leads the team in scoring (15.5), but has drained 40 from 3-point range.

TIP-INS

1. The teams split a pair of games last February and the Cavaliers took the meeting at home 53-43 - North Carolina’s lowest-scoring effort of the season.

2. Virginia sophomore G Ty Jerome is averaging 17.8 points over the last four games to push his season mark to 9.9.

3. Berry boasts 209 career 3-pointers and needs three to pass Jeff Lebo for sixth on the program’s all-time list.

PREDICTION: North Carolina 68, Virginia 60