UNC Basketball: Tar Heels use big second half to beat Virginia

The losing streak for the UNC basketball program against Virginia is over.

After losing seven-straight games in the series, UNC finally got the monkey off their backs and did so in a big way at home on Saturday. Backed by a big performance by Armando Bacot, UNC used a big second half to blow past the Hoos 74-58. The win moves UNC to 11-4 overall and 3-1 in the Atlantic Coast Conference to stay in touch with the top teams.

Bacot finished the game with 29 points and 21 rebounds becoming the first UNC player to do that since Brice Johnson against Florida State in 2016. He posted his 11th double-double on the year including six-straight as his hot streak continues.

After a back-and-forth first half, UNC finally grabbed a lead late and went into the break up 31-26 backed by Caleb Love’s hot play.

The second half was backed by strong efforts from Bacot as well as Brady Manek. The duo torched the Cavaliers with Bacot getting what he wanted inside while Manek drained a few big three-pointers as the UNC lead got past 20.

Virginia didn’t have an answer for UNC and couldn’t really establish a slow-style of play that they like to use against opponents. Instead, it was UNC controlling the pace and it worked into their favor outscoring the Hoos 43-33 in the second half.

This was a big win for the Tar Heels, especially coming off a disappointing loss at Notre Dame on Wednesday night. Going into this game it felt like UNC needed to come out strong and this could be a season-changing game. With a week off before their next game, let’s hope UNC is now back on track here.

Manek finished with 19 points while Love added 16 in the game.

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