ACC Tournament Preview: Tar Heels face off with Virginia Cavaliers
The UNC basketball program faces off with the Virginia Cavaliers in an ACC Tournament quarterfinal showdown Thursday night.
After finishing off their 2021-22 regular season campaign with an impressive victory over the Duke Blue Devils at Cameron Indoor Stadium, the Tar Heels took their double-bye straight into the ACC Tournament’s quarterfinal round.
They face off with the Virginia Cavaliers, who put on a less-than-stellar performance on Wednesday night but ultimately beat the downtrodden Lousiville Cardinals.
North Carolina, now squarely inside the NCAA Tournament’s field of 68, is playing for improved seeding in the big dance. A win over the Cavaliers would pit the Tar Heels against the winner of the Notre Dame and Virginia Tech matchup to be played on Thursday night just before the UNC/Virginia game.
A loss or just one victory in the ACC Tournament could very well put the Tar Heels on the dreaded 8/9 line in the NCAA Tournament, but a pair of victories over quality opponents and a good showing in the ACC title game could round out a resume that’s starting to look a lot healthier following a rough first half of the season and put some space between them and their region’s 1-seed.
Key to Victory
If Armando Bacot dominates the paint as he did in the teams’ last meeting and the Tar Heels can limit the Cavaliers on the perimeter, I see almost no way that Tony Bennett’s team can move on to the ACC Tournament semifinals.
Against Lousiville on Wednesday night, Virginia became the first team in 35 years to win an ACC Tournament game without hitting a three-pointer. Virginia is 12th in the ACC in three-point percentage, while the greatly-improved Tar Heels convert 37.4 percent of their attempts from long-range.
The Tar Heels are also the best free throw shooting team in the conference at an outstanding 77 percent. Throw in the fact that they average better than 15 points per game more than the Cavaliers and the Tar Heels should have a decided advantage in this one.
Something to Watch
Armando Bacot absolutely had his way with the Cavaliers in their January meeting, knocking down 12-of-18 shots for the game and pulling down nine of his 22 total rebounds on the offensive end of the court.
Virginia has a pair of solid bigs in Francisco Caffaro (7-foot-1) and Kadin Shedrick (6-foot-11), but they were able to do almost nothing to stop Bacot in that contest. How will they match up against the first team All-ACC big man in this go-round?
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Last Meeting
The Tar Heels took care of business in their only regular-season meeting with the Virginia Cavaliers, snapping a seven-game losing streak against the Tony Bennett-led squad. At the Dean Smith Center in early January, The Tar Heels cruised to a 74-58 victory behind a strong second-half performance overall and an incredible 29-point, 22-rebound double-double from Armando Bacot.
North Carolina got 19 points from Brady Manek and 16 from Caleb Love while shooting nearly 48 percent for the game and knocking down 11 three-pointers as a team. The Tar Heels outrebounded the Cavaliers by eight (36-28) and assisted on 19 of their 28 made buckets.
Virginia was led by All-ACC defender Reece Beekman’s 13 points to go along with a dozen from Armaan Franklin and 10 from Jayden Gardner. The Cavaliers got off to a slow start and scored just 25 points in the first half. They lost by a 10-point margin following the intermission and never really challenged the Tar Heels.
Projected Starting Lineup
No. 4 R.J. Davis (So., 6-0, 175) – 13.6 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 3.4 apg
No. 2 Caleb Love (So., 6-4, 195) – 15.7 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 3.7 apg
No. 1 Leaky Black (Sr., 6-8 200) – 5.0 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 2.5 apg
No. 45 Brady Manek (Sr. 6-9, 230) – 14.4 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 1.9 apg
No. 5 Armando Bacot (Jr., 6-10, 240) – 16.6 ppg, 12.5 rpg, 1.7 bpg
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What You Need to Know
WHAT? Virginia Cavaliers (19-12, 12-8 ACC) vs North Carolina Tar Heels (23-8, 15-5 ACC)
WHEN? Thursday, March 10 – 9:30 p.m. EST
WHERE? Barclays Center – Brooklyn, New York
TV? ESPN
RADIO? Tar Heels Sports Network
LINE? UNC -4
LAST MEETING? UNC won 74-58 on January 8, 2022
ALL-TIME SERIES? UNC leads 132-60
PREDICTION? UNC 75, Virginia 62
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