Virginia (13-14, 6-10 ACC) suffered an 81-66 loss against North Carolina (17-11, 10-6 ACC) on Saturday at Smith Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Read below for our key takeaways from the Virginia loss.
It was a tall task to begin with for the Virginia men's basketball squad to travel down to Chapel Hill, North Carolina and escape with a road win over the Tar Heels. Unfortunately for the 'Hoos, that tall task became a nearly impossible one as they started Saturday's contest about as poorly as a basketball team possibly can. Nine minutes into the game, UVA found themselves 1/10 from the field and down 21-2 until an Isaac McKneely bucket ended a 15-0 UNC run. Virginia fans have grown accustomed to long stretches of scoreless basketball from this talent-lacking Virginia offense, but the first ten minutes of ice cold offense from UVA still came as a surprise given stronger production as of late.
Putting the abysmal first ten minutes of the loss aside, the Cavaliers deserve credit for their response to early adversity. Following the 1/10 start from the field, they strung together a much needed, 8/10 stretch of shooting on the offensive end that saw the 'Hoos cut the 19-point Tar Heel lead to as little as eight in the first half.
The Virginia response was a welcome sign of heart for a team that easily could've thrown in the white towel early on and coasted to a loss in a game nobody expected them to win. In the end, the massive, early deficit proved too tall a mountain for the Cavaliers to climb, but the 'Hoos can take a small moral victory as they kept it competitive deep into the second half.
UNC was was markedly better in most categories on the stat sheet saturday, but the three-point totals and efficiency jump off the page. UVA finished the night just 6/22 from deep (27%), compared to the Tar Heels who finished 9/16 from three, good for a 56% clip, a welcome sign for a team shooting just 33% from behind the arc on the year. Jae'Lyn Withers lead the way for North Carolina, knocking down 4/6 from beyond the arc.
The Cavaliers got hammered on the glass at JPJ last Monday in their loss against Duke, and the story continued in their second straight loss today. UNC outrebounded the 'Hoos 35-21, and every battle for a loose ball became a prayer that it would somehow end up in the hands of a Virginia player. The offensive rebounding discrepancy was a major factor in the 15-point loss, with UNC dominating that department 11-3 on the evening, translating those additional chances into 17 second-chance points. Virginia finished with just two second chance points.
We already mentioned him in the three-point takeaway above, but Jae'Lyn Withers had a season best performance worth highlighting. Withers, a senior guard in his second year with the Heels after three years with the Louisville Cardinals, finished with a team-high 16 points behind an efficient shooting performance (5/8 FG, 4/6 3PT). Withers performance is perhaps a classic, lightning-in-a-bottle performance, as the guard came into the contest averaging just 5.3 points per game.
Isaac McKneely was the offensive highlight for Virginia this afternoon, turning in 17 points on 5/12 shooting from the floor, 2/7 from three, and 5/5 from the free throw line. McKneely clearly possesses some innate offensive talent, particularly in the shooting department, and has been excellent as of late, averaging nearly 18 points per game over the last nine UVA contests. However, for Virginia to win, or even be more competitive down the stretch in the heart of ACC play, McKneely simply cannot be the only effective option on the offensive end. Dai Dai Ames has emerged as the second scoring option in the last few weeks, and he came alive in the second half tonight, finishing with 12 points (5/6 FG). However, Ames is not much of a three-point threat and can't be the only supplmenetal offense to McKneely as the primary scorer. Andrew Rohde (9.2 PPG) and Elijah Saunders (10.9 PPG) have both shown flashes of offensive prowess, but are not reliable options when McKneely is off the floor or not playing well. Saunders and Rohde combined for just 13 points (4/14 FG) tonight, and the lack of any additional scorers in the Ron Sanchez offense was glaring.
Virginia gets back in action next Wednesday, February 26th at Wake Forest.