UNC Basketball vs. Virginia: Tar Heels face stiffest test of season

North Carolina faces off with Virginia in the teams’ only matchup of the regular season

North Carolina is coming off of a thrilling overtime victory against the Miami Hurricanes in which freshman sensation Coby White scored 33 points, and All-American forward Luke Maye nailed a game-tying three-pointer in the waning seconds of regulation.

The Virginia Cavaliers, on the other hand, are just two days removed from losing the second game of a regular season sweep by the Duke Blue Devils. After dropping just their second game of the season on Saturday — and surrendering a season-high 81 points — the Cavaliers will look to right the ship against a UNC team that has won seven consecutive games dating back to January 15.

When the two teams face off on Monday night, the Tar Heels will look to move ahead of Duke by a half game in the ACC, and remain one of just two one-loss teams in the conference. In their toughest two-game stretch of the season, the Cavaliers will try to avoid losing back-to-back games for the first time in nearly two years.

Keys to the game for Virginia

Stifling defense is an obvious key to the game for any Tony Bennett-coached squad, but it might take more than that if Coby White and company come out firing like they did in the second half of their game against Miami.

The Cavaliers will need to put some points on the board, and the lion share of that production will have to come from the talented trio of Kyle Guy, Ty Jerome and De’Andre Hunter. They’re Virginia’s go-to scorers, and only players who average better than seven points per game this season.

The Tar Heels’ 88.3 points per game are second in the nation to only Gonzaga (Virginia averages 72.8), but the Cavaliers’ defense is allowing just 54.1 points per game, tops in the nation. If the Tar Heels can take a page out of the Blue Devils’ playbook and score over 70 points — UVA has given up 70 or more points three times this season, and Duke is responsible for two — then they’ll have an opportunity to outscore the team known best for its defense, and not its offense.

Keys to the game for North Carolina

How the Tar Heels perform on the three-point line, both offensively and defensively, will be paramount to a North Carolina victory over Virginia Monday night.

The Cavaliers have five players that log 10 or more minutes a game that shoot better than 40 percent from beyond the three-point arc. Three of those players, Guy, Jerome and Hunter, are dangerous enough as it is, but if they’re hitting their shots from long-range, they become almost impossible to stop.

On the other end of the court, the Tar Heels will need to knock down some of their own three-pointers, much like they did against Miami when they connected on 13-of-26 attempts from deep. Roy Williams can’t expect Coby White to knock down another seven three-pointers this game — he went 7-of-10 from deep against the Hurricanes on Saturday — so he’ll be looking for increased production from the struggling Kenny Williams, as well as fellow seniors Luke Maye and Cameron Johnson.

If the Tar Heels can hit double-digit three-pointers at a 50 percent clip against Virginia, then they’ve got a pretty good shot at knocking off the No. 4 team in the country.

Last meeting

Luke Maye scored 20 points and pulled down seven rebounds for the Tar Heels in a 71-63 loss to Virginia in the 2018 ACC Championship game. Joel Berry II added 17 points, and Kenny Williams scored 12 for the Tar Heels, who shot 40 percent from three-point range (10-for-25), but got off just 49 total shots in the game.

Virginia was led by Kyle Guy and Devon Hall, who scored 16 and 15 points, respectively. The Cavaliers were outrebounded by two in the game, but shot nearly 53 percent from three-point range, and committed just four turnovers. They also converted 20-of-22 shots from the foul line.

What you need to know

What? Virginia 20-2 (8-2) at UNC 19-4 (9-1)
When? Monday, February 11 – 7:00 p.m. EST
Where? Dean E. Smith Center – Chapel Hill, North Carolina
TV? ESPN
Radio? Tar Heel Sports Network
All-Time series? North Carolina leads series 131-56
Prediction? UNC 74, Virginia 69