Tale of the Tape: No. 7 North Carolina at No. 5 Virginia
Posted on Sunday, Dec. 8, 2019, 1:19 pm
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Virginia welcomes longtime ACC rival North Carolina to John Paul Jones Arena this afternoon at 4 p.m. for another early-season conference battle, as the Cavaliers try to avoid their first losing streak in almost three years. The last time the Wahoos lost two consecutive games was during the 2016-17 season, dropping a pair to Duke and the Tar Heels.
The fifth-ranked ‘Hoos (7-1, 1-0 ACC) were pummeled on the road at Purdue Wednesday in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, 69-40, while the seventh-ranked Heels (6-2, 1-0) are also coming off of a lopsided loss, falling 74-49 to No. 6 Ohio State in Chapel Hill.
Through Saturday, Virginia dropped down to 10th overall in the KenPom ratings (1st AdjD, 121st AdjO), while Carolina is at No. 22 overall (28th AdjD, 31st AdjO).
UVA once again struggled to put the ball in the basket in its first true hostile environment of the season (no offense, Syracuse), as the Boilermakers turned Cavalier mistakes into points on the other end. Purdue was hot from the perimeter, and the combination led to Virginia’s first loss since the ACC Tournament in March.
Carolina, which has dropped two of its last three games after a 5-0 start, also shot the ball poorly Wednesday (27.4 percent), making just 17 of 62 shots as freshman star guard Cole Anthony, who’s a projected top-five NBA pick, was the team’s only player in double figures with 15 points.
The Tar Heels also lost another impact freshman, 6-foot-10, 232-pound big man Armando Bacot, to injury against the Buckeyes. Bacot, who has started every game and averages 10.5 points, 8.9 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game, is not expected to play against the Cavaliers.
As a result, 6-9 junior forward Garrison Brooks will move to the center position and 6-7 William & Mary grad transfer Justin Pierce will likely slide into the starting lineup at the 4.
This is the lowest-scoring Carolina squad under legendary coach Roy Williams, with only two players (Brooks and Bacot) shooting 42 percent or better from the field. This year’s team has struggled with converting on the fast break. However, the Heels still lead the nation in rebounding at 47.5 a game.
Anthony leads the Heels with 20.0 points a night, while also pacing Roy’s bunch in assists (3.9) and steals (1.9), and UVA will need to keep him under wraps as much as possible and make his teammates do more.
Virginia has won four straight against the Tar Heels, and seven of the last 10 in the series. This will be the 11th meeting between the schools in which both are ranked in the top 10 (UVA has won three of the last four such meetings, dating back to the 2000-01 season, but UNC holds an overall 6-4 edge in those games).
