UNC Basketball: Tar Heels fall to Cavaliers, lose fifth consecutive game

UNC basketball falls to Virginia in Chapel Hill, loses third consecutive game at home and fifth overall

Tomas Woldetensae scored a team-high 18 points, and the Virginia Cavaliers beat the North Carolina Tar Heels by a final score of 64-62 at the Dean Smith Center on Saturday night.

Woldetensae knocked down 6-of-10 three-point attempts on the night, while senior forward Mamadi Diakite scored 15 points on a 6-for-10 shooting performance. Kihei Clark and Casey Morsell added 10 points a piece.

The Cavaliers shot 44.4 percent for the game, and 42.9 percent from three-point range. They assisted on 14 of 24 made buckets, and collected eight steals and four blocks against the Tar Heels. The victory improves Virginia to 17-7 on the season, and 9-5 in Atlantic Coast Conference play.

North Carolina was led by junior forward Garrison Brooks, who scored a game-high 20 points on 9-of-14 shooting. He pulled down five rebounds, dished out four assists and hit his second three-point shot of the season. Freshman point guard Cole Anthony scored 17 points on a 7-for-16 shooting night, while senior grad transfer Christian Keeling added 11 in his first start since the Wofford game on December 15.

The Tar Heels shot 50 percent from the floor against the Cavaliers, and outrebounded them by six. They hit 3-of-10 shots from long-range, and 9-of-14 from the free throw line. They led by a point with 10 seconds remaining in the game, but another instance of poor perimeter defense in a game’s closing moments cost North Carolina the win. They fall to 10-15 with the loss, and 3-11 in conference play. They’ve lost five consecutive games for the second time this season. They’ve dropped three straight home games, and 10 of the last 12 overall.

The Tar Heels will be back in action on Monday night when they take on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Purcell Pavilian in South Bend, Indiana.

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