Lessons Learned from UNC basketball's thrilling comeback win at Virginia

Contributions Great and Small

UNC won despite not getting double-digit scoring from one of its pillars. Henri Veesaar was bothered in the post and missed several chippies, tallying just seven points on 3-for-8 shooting.

From a scoring standpoint, Seth Trimble and Luka Bogavac picked up the slack. Bogavac's two three-pointers in the first half kept the Tar Heels in touch with Virginia, when they were opening up a double-digit lead. Seth Trimble hit back-to-back threes to get UNC within seven points.

Derek Dixon cemented his claim to the starting point guard job. He scored 11 points, shooting 2-for-3 from three, and dished seven assists, including this Kendall Marshall-esque example that got North Carolina within one point of Virginia.

But the most subtle (and important) contribution came from Jonathan Powell, who was scoreless, missing his only shot. With UNC's posts getting beaten to rebounds all afternoon and engaged in box-out battles, Powell swooped in from the backcourt to secure boards when Caleb Wilson and Veesaar could not. He had seven rebounds, leading the team for the first time this season. We probably won't see Powell top the team in rebounds again, but thank goodness he did against the Hoos!